And so it Shattered
by Ichigo1010
Summary: Mikan Sakura's personality is a lie. Her happy, bubbly, stupidness is only a facade created to please her grandpa and her other family. But with every passing day, keeping the mask intact is becoming more and more difficult. Rest of summary inside.
1. Chapter 1

**#4: Mikan Sakura's personality is a lie. Her happy, bubbly, stupidness is only a facade created to please her grandpa and her other family. But with every passing day, keeping the mask intact is becoming more and more difficult, as people insult her, make fun of her, and are just plain rude. And when the mask breaks, no one can put it back together again.**

**Well… here it is! First place in the poll: **_**And so it shattered**_**. I'll be typing up the first chapter of **_**To Not Be Real**_** soon. =D**

**Enjoy!**

**Note: everyone is 15 in this =3**

**Disclaimer: Unfortunately, it is not mine T-T**

**Chapter 1**

**Mikan POV**

_-! Click._

I sat up tiredly and looked at the glowing red numbers on my alarm clock:

8:20

There was only 10 minutes until school started and I knew I would be late as usual. I smirked.

'_Perfect.'_

I jumped out of my bed and went to my closet to get my uniform and begin my daily routine as Mikan Sakura, also known as… the bubbly idiot.

---------------

"Sorry I'm late!" I apologized worriedly, throwing the classroom door open and running in. My ribbon was tied as though I had just done it on the run, and my pigtails were messy, like I had gotten ready in a hurry. Just like I needed it. My first period teacher for today turned to look at me with disgust.

Jinno.

I resisted the urge to glare at him and make a rude comment and listened to his daily rant about my tardiness.

"Late as always, Sakura," He began as usual, sneering my name. "1 week worth of detention after school. Starting today- sit down for now."

"But I-!" I began, trying to sound sorry.

"Sit. Down." He ordered.

Head down, I walked to my seat, my façade looking ashamed and embarrassed.

"_What an idiot!"_ I heard one girl whisper.

"_Stupid."_ Said another.

Someone stuck out his or her foot out to trip me. I fell down and tried to ignore the laughter from my classmates and the smirk of satisfaction on Jinno's disgusting face.

"Oops." I said, chuckling. I put a big smile of my face and waved to my "friends". They ignored me, but I continued on.

'_Remember Mikan, this is for oujii-san.'_ I reminded myself.

As an adopted child, I had to be exactly as my guardian wanted me to be, otherwise I would get sent away and be back up for adoption again. When I was adopted at the age of 4, Oujii-san was looking for a sweet, bubbly, and happy girl, I became and would continue to be one.

'_You can do this Mikan. Don't let it all fall apart.'_ I chanted to myself. But it was getting harder and harder everyday to keep my mask intact. All of the teasing and insults were wearing my mask down; cracking it and making small pieces fall off. Soon, it would fall apart completely.

"Good morning Natsume." I greeted the bastard fire caster cheerfully. As usual, he glared at me and made a rude comment.

"Hn. Get the hell away from me, stupid. You're annoying."

I couldn't help the small turning down of my lips, making my usual sunny smile a little darker, but it went unnoticed. I continued on forcing myself to keep up the facade as I once again was insulted and made fun of.

_Crack!_

"Good morning, Ruka-pyon." I greeted, turning to the blonde boy. I sat down in my chair.

"Good morning Sakura." He replied with a sweet smile.

'_At least someone here isn't a complete ass.'_ I thought dryly.

I sighed as I began listening to Jinno's stupid ramblings as he taught Math class. After about 10 minutes, I took my pigtails down and began to re-do them.

"Sakura!" Jinno called. I looked up to him.

"Yes sensei?" I asked sweetly.

"Answer the question on the board. You have 1 minute."

I walked up to the large black board, hair still down, and looked up at the board.

_If f(x) = x4 - x + 2, then f(-x) = ???_

Though the question was many levels higher than what he gave to any of the other students (the ass), I knew the answer in 5 seconds. It was easily -_x4 + x - 2_

But the idiot Mikan wouldn't know that.

I stared at the black board, feigning confusion, until Jinno impatiently said, "Your time is up. The answer?"

"Uh… umm…." I began, scratching the back of my head, blurting out the first number the idiot would have thought of. "42?"

Jinno snorted and rolled his eyes. "You imbecile. Get out of my classroom. You are a pathetic excuse for an Alice and a human."

"But, Jin-jin-!" I began. But the steaming, red-faced toad lover cut me off.

"Don't you ever call me 'Jin-jin' Sakura." He said angrily. "_Leave._ Go back home to your pathetic home and town and dying grandfather. No one wants you here or needs you. Go. Now."

_CRACK!_

I stood still, feet glued to where I was standing. I was shaking, trying with all of my might to keep the mask intact. I looked up, a smile pasted on my face.

"What do you mean? Hotaru, Natsume, and Ruka-pyon don't want me to go. They're my friends." I said, barley managing to keep it all from breaking. "Right?" I looked to the three. Hotaru was working on an invention, Natsume was reading a manga, and Ruka-pyon was sitting there petting his bunny. I looked down; eyes wide, my bangs were covering my face and they cast a dark shadow on my features.

All of them were ignoring me.

And the mask shattered.

It completely fell apart and was destroyed, breaking into millions of pieces like shattered glass. All of the pent up emotions inside me came rushing out: Hate, anger, annoyance, hurt, embarrassment, loathing, but most of all… a suppressed fury that rivaled a caged lion. I began to shake badly and as I clenched my hands into fists.

Jinno smirked. "You see? No one wants you. So get out before-"

"Shut the hell up." I snarled.

"What?" Jinno's voice was incredulous. The entire class gasped. I heard Hotaru stop her project, Natsume and Ruka looked up, surprised that I would have ventured to go so far.

I snapped my head up, glaring at him. My eyes were hard and my face was smooth and cold. Smoothing the loose hairs that had fallen across my face, I placed one hand on my hip.

"What?" I question lightly. My voice was ice and steel. "Can't believe that Mikan Sakura would defy or insult you?" I let out a dark laugh. Some of the students shivered. "I said shut the hell up, you asshole."

Jinno roared in anger and sent out a powerful, large bolt of lightning, straight towards me. The whole class gasped, and I heard two girls let out a muffled shriek, thinking that Mikan Sakura was done for and would soon be a sad pile of ashes on the ground.

It was just about to hit me, when it disappeared 3 inches from my body.

Everyone went silent and Jinno stood there gaping. I smirked and sent it back towards the toad freak tenfold.

Hitting him square in the chest, Jinno was thrown against the blackboard, creating large cracks in it, and slumped to the ground, clothes charred and as he twitched from the shock and pain.

I walked up to him and my smirk widened. "Sorry Jin-jin." I mocked in an icy tone. I then turned to my classmates; they all stood there, eyes as wide as saucers, and completely still, afraid to move lest I do the same to them. I would have, with a savage pleasure, but I had to stop myself from exploding. Except… I wasn't sure I wanted to.

"Well?" I asked boredly. "Are you going to do anything, or let him die? He has 7 minutes at most if you don't get him to the hospital wing." No one moved. "Fine. Let him die, I never liked the man anyway." I said, shrugging my shoulders.

Making sure to step on him on the way, I walked over Jinno and to an open window and climbed onto the window seal. All eyes followed me.

"Ja-ne." I clipped. I then jumped out of the four-story classroom and landed on the grass with a soft thud. I dashed off into the forest.

**Hmm… Was it good? I hope so! =D**

"**CLICK ME!!!!!!" That is what the little review button on the bottom of the page is saying. Please, have a heart and don't deprive the poor button of clicks. =D**


	2. Chapter 2

**TADA! chapter 2! XD**

**I am going to be using some of the ideas that my reviewers gave me in this chapter! If anyone else has any ideas, leave a review or PM me! =D**

**Disclaimer: i do not own...**

**Normal POV**

The class watched numbly as "Mikan" jumped out of the window and ran away.

Luna Koizumi, jerked up from her chair, gaining everyone's attention, and glared at them all, her gaze steely and ice cold.

"You jerks." she hissed angrily before she walked towards the window Mikan departed by, shoving anyone who got too close to her out of the way. She jumped out of the window, but not before flicking them off and cursing them.

The moment she was gone, the entire class came to life. A group of people ran to Jinno to take him to the hospital wing, and a roar of voices began as they worriedly discussed what had just happened.

Hotaru was still shell-shocked and Ruka was shakily petting his rabbit. Natsume looked down and whispered to Ruka, "I'm going to go find Polka. You stay here."

His voice and expression was still its usual cold self, but his eyes betrayed his worry and fear. Natsume went over to the window Mikan and Luna went through and jumped down, following the direction that they went, chasing the person he had failed.

* * *

**Mikan POV**

When I had finally stopped running, I was in a small clearing with a waterfall and lake. I sighed and walked over to one of the large boulders and placed one hand on it, I then angrily sent a large amount of electricity through it, causing the rock to shatter and the pieces to collapse on the ground.

"Temper, temper." A voice behind me chastised. I turned to see my best friend Luna smiling lightly with both happy and worried eyes.

"Luna." I acknowledged, granting her a small smile in return.

"Today was awesome, you know? Jin-jin and those assholes totally deserved that!" she said laughing. But her mood short lived as the laughter quickly died down and a serious expression settled on her face. "Are you okay? I've never seen you lose it like that."

I turned away and walked to the lake, stepping onto of the cool water and turning the water under my feet it into ice so I could walk across the water.

"Show off." Luna muttered. I grinned.

Luna, who could not follow without getting wet, stood on the edge of the water, waiting for my response.

"I'm fine." I lied smoothly, not wanting her to know how desolate and betrayed I was feeling. Through my acting, I had started to fool myself into believing those… _people_ cared for me. "I simply lost control. But I refuse to go back to the way I was. I can't pick the pieces back up again. The charade is over."

Luna nodded and smiled, "Good. I could tell that it was causing you a lot of trouble and pain. It's a good thing. Now you're free!"

I grinned at her and walked over to Luna, hopped onto the ground and smiled at her. I opened my mouth to say something to her, when I heard a rustling sound and saw Natsume walk out of the trees.

"Mikan-"

"Go away." Luna hissed at him, stepping in between the two of us. I watched emotionlessly as Natsume's eyes widened in surprise.

"Luna? What are you doing here?" he asked calmly.

"None of your business you ass." she growled angrily. When Natsume stayed silent, she snorted and laughed. "Are you here to apologize to Mikan? Now?"

Natsume looked away.

"It's too late for that." Luna continued on. "She's never going to forgive you. She never even liked you anyways. You and everyone else always treated her like dirt." she snarled.

With that, Luna and I began to walk away, but Hyuuga ran after us and grabbed my wrist. I took hold of his forearm and shoulder, twisted it around his back, and pinned him to the ground. He grunted when he hit the dirt.

"Don't touch me." I hissed, my eyes flashing dangerously, not wanting to deal with a persistent idiot at this time.

I released him and kicked him hard in the stomach, throwing him away from me. He stayed on the ground, gasping for breath.

"Persona," I called, my voice at normal speaking level, "take care of him."

There was a blur of black and then Persona was in front of me, kneeling down on one knee.

"Yes, Oujo-sama." he replied.

I looked down at him with cold eyes. "Go."

He stood up and walked over to Natsume, casting a dark shadow over the fallen boy. Natsume eyes widened in fear. He knew what was about to happen.

"Let's go Luna." I said smiling. I had only walked 30 feet before the screaming began.

* * *

**Natsume POV**

I was laying in the clearing, breathing painfully. It was dark outside and Persona had gone. The only thing I could hear was the waterfall.

He had beaten me for hours, but this time, it was worse than normal. He was twice as violent and three times as cruel. Every inch of my body was bruised, bleeding, and cut up. I was sure that he had broken some bones.

_"I've been waiting for this a long, long time." Persona said, smiling evilly. "This is what you get for hurting Mikan-sama." He laughed at my confused expression and then leapt at me with a punch._

_"Let the beating begin."_

I shuddered at the memory, but winced at the pain it caused in my side.

_"This is what you get for hurting Mikan-sama."_

The line repeated itself to me once again.

I really had been horrible, hadn't I?

_You hurt Mikan-sama._

Unable to move, I closed my eyes and waited for someone to come and find me.

_"I've been waiting for this. This is what you get for hurting Mikan-sama."_

_"Mikan…"_

* * *

**Luna POV**

I was standing on the tallest maple tree, hidden among the many branches and glaring down at Natsume Hyuuga. Mikan was standing beside me.

"Pathetic." I heard her sneer.

I turned to see her face cold and emotionless. Her eyes were flat and hard.

"You really do hate him and everyone else, don't you?" I asked her quietly.

"Always have." she replied coolly. "And they hate me as well. Why else would they treat me like that?"

"They're just idiots." I assured her.

"Of course they are." she paused for a moment. "Let's go Luna, we have better things to do than this."

I nodded and we both began jumping from tree to tree, back to the dorms.

**Umm... done! (with the chapter) =D**

**Review??? If only for the kitty?**

** /\__/\  
(=^.^=) ~Nya!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3! wow... I feel amazing! I think that this one is pretty good!**

**Disclaimer: why do we even put these here? It's obvious we don't own them... Oh well! I disclaim! ^.^**

**Chapter 3**

**Mikan POV**

I stared out of the large window in my room. It had rained a while ago, if only a small amount of time, and the air smelled clean and fresh. The sky was a rich midnight blue and you could see millions of stars scattered all over the nighttime sky. The full moon illuminated the entire Academy, throwing its milky light everywhere and casting shadows across the ground. The flowers were bathed in the light- glowing softly as the left over droplets of water from the short rain sparkled like gems. Fireflies flew everywhere and an owl hooted softly from a tree as waited for its next pray to come by. It was devastatingly beautiful.

It was disgusting.

Things were too perfect tonight. Nothing should be so amazing- not after what happened today.

I withdrew from the window and jerked the curtains shut, blocking out the moonlight and enveloping my room in complete darkness. I turned around and flicked my wrist, creating orbs of fire surrounding the room that revealed a solitary figure cloaked in black.

"Oujo-sama, I did the job," he announced. His cold voice filled the silent room.

"I saw. Good job." I said with a faint smirk. "You may go now."

He nodded obediently and disappeared into a wisp of black smoke. With my servant gone and for the first time since morning being alone, the weight of today's events all came rushing at me and hit me hard. I gasped and sank to the floor as the pain and anger of my friends' betrayal weighed down upon me.

_Rrrrrip!_

I hated them. But despite that, even though they were horrible to me, I thought that we'd been friends for all those years. I did so many things for them-even if it wasn't the real me. And so, their indifference and coldness towards me when I needed them the most left a mark- adding to the big gaping hole where my heart should have been.

_'After all I've done for them...'_

I squeezed my eyes shut and stayed on the floor, shaking, as I tried to hold myself together.

_'I thought… it meant something…'_

* * *

**Normal POV**

Mikan walked confidently into the classroom, Luna Koizumi at her side. Murmurs arose at their arrival and each face that looked up to the pair showed shock. A few tried to speak to Mikan, including the twins Anna and Nonko, but they were frightened away by a glare from either or both of the girls. No one else dared approach them as the two entered the room, faces impassive, eyes hard. That is, no one except Hotaru who stood up from her chair and walked over to them.

They passed by her without a single glance to spare, not acknowledging their presence.

Hotaru walked after them and stepped in front of the two. Her face stoic, only her eyes amethyst betrayed her worry and fear.

"Mikan. W-"

Luna stepped forward and between Mikan and the nuisance, blocking and silencing Hotaru with a blood chilling glare.

"Move." Hotaru ordered.

"Hell no." Luna hissed. Her voice was low and dangerous causing a small shiver to run along the Ice Queen's spine. "Freaks like you aren't allowed near her."

"I'm her best friend." she stated calmly. She looked past Luna to Mikan who was watching the whole exchange with a bored face. Unsureness crept into her voice as she asked, "Right Mikan?"

Now it was Mikan's turn to say something. "Hell no Imai." Hotaru flinched at the unfamiliar hostility. "You and I were never friends. You're a freak and a jerk, and you treated me like dirt. Back off."

They walked past the surprised inventor without another word, leaving her to stand alone in the middle of the room, just as the door slid open and two more walked in.

---

It was the absence of the usual chorus of "Natsume-sama!~"and the absolute silence of the room that let the battered fire caster immediately realize that something was wrong. He tensed slightly as Ruka followed behind him, also tense and aware of the lack of fan-girls. The atmosphere was suffocating, causing Ruka to stumble and Natsume to freeze as he looked around, past the frozen inventor, and straight at the cause of it all-

"Mikan."

Said person turned her head to face him. Her hair was worn down and loose across her shoulders and her eyes were cold and narrowed slightly before she grinned as she took in his injured ankle and wrist and the various other cuts bruises.

He looked at her with sad and confused eyes, pleading for an explanation. He took a single step forward and Mikan spoke up. "Get any closer than that and you'll be getting another visit from Persona." her voice was a low hiss and the class shivered. She chuckled with amusement- so cruelly and un-Mikan-like, that he was barely able to suppress a shiver even with all his years of training and conditioning.

He felt a sharp pang in his chest.

She was a total stranger now. What had happened to his light, his hope, his solitude?

"She was never really there." Mikan said as an answer to his thoughts. Her voice was clear and strong in the silent room and he saw something strange but unidentifiable in her hard brown eyes. Natsume's eye's widened in surprise.

_'What the-?' _Natsume thought with surprise.

Mikan laughed, but there was no humor in it and it sounded wrong coming from her mouth. "Didn't know I could do that? Don't underestimate me Hyuuga, I'm not the stupid girl you think I am."

"Mikan..." he began, but trailed off, unsure what exactly to say.

She looked at him with critical eyes and her tone was biting as she said her next words, "Don't think you can talk to me, Hyuuga. You shouldn't this you deserve things that you lost long ago. You and all the idiots in here else." She was now addressing the entire room, save Luna, looking each of them in the eye. She had made a full circle and when her eyes once again landed on Natsume, the bell rang. Narumi bounded into the classroom, either unaware or choosing to ignore the tension in the room.

"Good morning my pretties!" he greeted happily. Natsume and Ruka walked to their chairs to sit down, motioning for Hotaru to do the same. "Today we have some bad news: Jinno-sensei will be out of commission for the next couple of weeks or so due to an unfortunate accident yesterday."

Everyone knew that the "accident" he was referring to was defiantly not an accident, but said nothing.

"I will now be your math teacher until then, so now you guys are stuck with me for 2 periods instead of one!" he finished enthusiastically.

He waited for a reaction; a comment, groans, laughter- anything would do, but nothing came. No sound was heard apart from a muffled cough and Narumi shifted uncomfortably, his grin faltering slightly at the lack of response.

Anxious to get out of the room and away from the awkwardness, he quickly declared "Free period for celebration!" Narumi then hurriedly dashed out of the room and off to who-knows-where, attempting to avoid being suffocated by the atmosphere.

Still there was no sound. Mikan sighed exasperatedly and looked around the room. A few students flinched with fear as her eyes landed on them."You all can speak you know. No one is stopping you."

Luna laughed beside her and the class hesitantly began to talk. Everything was seemingly normal, but the conversations were forced and uncomfortable.

Ever since conversation began, an intense stare was directed towards the brunet, the source of it coming from the fire caster; Natsume Hyuuga. It probably would have continued on for the rest of the class as well until Mikan snorted and sent a look of disgust towards Natsume, before walking over to an open window with Luna trailing behind. Just as she had the day before, Mikan jumped out, leaving Luna to dash after her. The two ran into the forest the same as the day before.

Natsume slammed his good hand down on his desk, splintering the wood and left the room, slamming the door on is way out. Ruka followed worriedly behind him.

The entire class went silent again, drowning in sadness and worry over their lost light- but did she ever really exist in the first place?

_"She was never really there at all...."_

Mikan's cold voice echoed in their mind like a voice in the wind. Images of her unusual expression- completely devoid of all and any emotion- flashed before their eyes. The used to be warm, kind, and caring girl that had changed their lives had turned into someone- no. _Something_ else that was untouchable: as cold and frigid as the winter wind and dangerous and unpredictable as the stormy sea...

What had they done?

_"... She was never really there at all..."_

**Hmm... maybe it's just me, but this chapter ended on a rather depressing note... don't you think so too? =0**

**REVEIW! It's inspiration juice for authors! =D**


	4. Chapter 4

**… Sorry for taking so long to update! (please don't kill me! T-T) the document manager broke… so…. Yeah. **

**So… the idea for this chapter came because I've gotten multiple requests to quote "lighten the mood a little". Does this work?**

**Well, here's the next chappy! =D**

**Chapter 4**

**Mikan POV**

I headed towards my favorite place- the lake with the waterfall- the moment I hit the ground. Even with my speed Alice in use, Luna kept up with ease.

When I came to the clearing, I sank down into the soft green grass with a sigh. Luna stood behind me, watching with worried eyes.

"Mi-chan-" she began uncertainly.

"It's okay." I said, cutting in smoothly. I put on a smile and stood up, dusting off my knees in the process. "Let's do something fun! With all of the stress and Natsume-butt-kicking stuff, I'm in need for some major relaxation time." I cut off the waterfall with my Alice, making the water calmer and perfect for swimming.

I winked at my best friend and snapped my fingers. Persona flitted to my side holding two swimsuits, towels, and inner tubes. Luna grinned and nodded her head eagerly.

"Hell yeah!" she agreed happily.

Laughing we both grabbed our things from the ever stoic Persona and went to change.

"You stand there." I ordered the teacher, pointing to a large group of trees. I shoved him away and he smirked with amusement.

"Yes, oujo-sama." He answered curtly.

After we changed, I inflated the inner tubes with my wind Alice and we both jumped into the crystal lake, disturbing the unmoving waters.

_SPLASH!_

The water droplets splashed everywhere and I laughed freely. Luna paddled over to me, grinning mischievously before splashing water all over me, which I of course returned tenfold. Persona watched our game with a blank expression. A plan forming in my head, I turned to Luna and gave her a look. We both grinned and sent a wall of water straight towards the DA teacher.

It hit him head on and when the water stopped pelting him, he stood there scowling, dripping wet from head to toe.

"I'd appreciate it, oujo-sama, Luna-sama, if you would stop splashing me with water without warning or reason." He said dryly as he squeezed out some of the water from his clothes.

Luna scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Puh-lease. Loosen up! You're way too uptight all of the time." She sighed deeply. "Go change into a swimsuit. Today, you will have fun!" She ordered him.

Persona looked to me with pleading eyes. I grinned.

"That's an order." I said.

He let out a stream of muttered curses and began walking away.

"Oh, and Persona?" Luna called after him. "Get us some smoothies while you're at it!"

"Yes, m'am." He hissed. He stomped off into the trees.

When his figure disappeared, we both burst out laughing.

"Did, you _see_ that? His face was priceless!" Luna said.

I laughed and nodded in agreement. When the laughter died down, I floated on my back in the water silently, thinking about yesterday and today's events: the shattering of my façade, finally getting to speak my mind, hurting Natsume…

_'Natsume.'_ I thought his name with a hiss and my eyes went hard and cold.

My stomach twisted as his image popped into my mind and I felt a sharp pang as I recalled his betrayal and apologies. I clenched my fists, my nails digging into the skin on my palms and I suddenly began to wonder how hard it would be to go and just kill him. My thought turned more and more violent and my anger rose. My nails pierced the skin and my hands started bleeding. This crimson liquid flowed out and stained the water around me.

_'Damn it! If I had never-!'_

"You're doing it again." A calm voice said, interrupting my thoughts. "You're doing that thing where you look so angry- so upset- that I think that you're going to just destroy everything within your sight and go on a rampage."

I looked to my left and saw Luna beside me, floating on one of the tubes that I had blown up. Her eyes were sad as she stared at me.

"Sorry." I whispered.

We both stayed quiet until Persona arrived with our drinks. He tossed me my drink and I caught it calmly. He then gave Luna hers. She was about to take a sip, when she stopped and said, "Mini umbrella?"

Persona snorted and pulled one out. Opening in up, he placed in her drink and Luna smiled with approval. Finally taking a sip, she inspected him with critical eyes.

He was wearing all black, but no one should expect otherwise. The DA teacher was wearing simple black swim trunks and a short-sleeved shirt. And on his face he was still wearing his signature white mask that covered the top half of his face. Luna scowled.

"Everything passes, except for that stupid mask of yours! Take the damn thing off!" she yelled at him.

Persona looked to me for orders.

"You heard her. Off with the mask." I agreed with an evil chuckle.

He sighed and took it off, revealing his perfect features and Luna nodded in approval.

"You should take off that dumb thing more often! You look good." She said with a laugh. I smiled. "Now into the water," She demanded seriously.

"Luna-sama," he said blankly, "I don't really see why it's necessary to-"

"Persona," I interrupted with a growl, faking anger. He stared at me, startled and started looking sheepish. He still hesitated though, and Luna took the opportunity to spur him on.

"Get. In. Now." She ordered with a glare. Persona shivered slightly and nodded, stepping into the water obediently.

I laughed silently to myself as I sipped my drink and watched Luna torture and pester the ever-stoic DA teacher.

* * *

**Natsume POV**

I, of course, followed Mikan and Luna when they left, and hid myself among the leaves of the trees within the northern forest. I watched the whole scene from the tree I had concealed myself in in with a pained face: Mikan was smiling at Luna and as Persona stood in the water, unmasked, with a scowl pasted on his face and his arms crossed stubbornly as the girl who I _thought_ was Mikan's enemy, was trying to get the DA teacher to play with her. Luna laughed and pushed Persona underwater, determined to make him swim and stop sulking about getting wet. He came up soaking wet and looking so pissed off that I thought that he was going to kill Luna. I grinned at the thought. His overall presentation was scary except for the face that his eye make-up was now wet and dripping all over his face. Luna burst out laughing.

"You- you-!" she tried to say in between laughs. "You look so stupid!"

I watched Mikan carefully as the corners of her lips turned up and she snorted. I could tell that it was taking all of her effort not to laugh with them, and when the DA teacher tried to wipe it away with the back of his hand, and only succeeded in making it worse, she finally did.

Her laugh was light and musical, filled with complete content and happiness- completely unlike any that I have ever heard before. And when it died down, the smile that replaced it was perfect and angelic- I had never seen anything like it.

My stomach twisted and I clenched my fist as I realized that all of those smiles- all of those laughs that she used to show me- were fakes: completely unreal, just meek replacements for what she really was.

"Damn it." I cursed quietly.

I climbed down from the tree silently, planning on simply walking away. I couldn't handle seeing anymore. All was well and I had attracted no attention until I set my foot on the ground and, unknowingly, a fallen tree branch.

It broke with a loud snap, and I felt someone's gaze fall upon me, knowing I had blown it.

Mikan was staring at me with indifferent eyes, not doing anything at all as I stood there. I was surprised to say the least; I thought that she would react somehow…. But she didn't. She just stood there in the water, not saying a word to her to companions as they swam around.

_Go._

I looked around in surprise as a mysterious voice filled my head; my eyes fell back to Mikan whose face hadn't changed except for a smirk.

_I said: go. Now. Don't you dare ruin my relaxation time, bastard._ The voice, now identified as Mikan's, was a low, dangerous hiss. She narrowed her gaze when I didn't move, and the air around me suddenly began to get cold as the ground turned to ice underneath my feet. Mikan's eyes went from their usual hazel to an icy blue as a result of using her ice Alice and I understood that she was serious.

_'She has the ice Alice.'_ I thought with mild surprise. I knew that she must have stolen it from someone.

I stood still and Mikan's eyes turned hard as she glared at me. The blue of her eyes suddenly intensified and spike after spike of ice began shooting out of the ground and heading towards me. I knew that she was trying to chase me away, but I made no move to flee and instead waited for the spikes to reach me- testing an idea of mine.

The spikes reached me and one shot up, aiming at my chest, but then stopped right before it pierced me. The ice disappeared and Mikan turned away.

I couldn't help the small smile that forced its way onto my lips as my suspicions were confirmed- Mikan couldn't kill me. And if she couldn't kill me, it meant that somewhere deep inside of her- she didn't completely hate me.

I ran back to school.

---------------

**Mikan POV**

I just sat on the side of the lake, observing quietly as Luna splashed Persona and teased him. I looked at my hand.

_'Why?'_ I asked myself. _'Why couldn't I kill him? He was _right _there! I could have just killed him and been done with it...'_

I cursed silently and stood up. Wrapping a towel around myself, I said, "Luna, Persona, let's go. We have work to do."

Luna nodded and Persona just swam over to the edge and climbed out of the water. When Luna got out as well, I removed my Alice and let the water fall start again.

With my best friend and servant on either side of me, I teleported away.

**HA! Over 2,000 words! 2,059 to be exact. (They're usualy just 1,300ish..) **

**So.... It's done! (The chapter that is) …eh…. I hope that it didn't suck! =D**

**Nindy_MuTz: **Well, as you asked, I will start writing my next update… er… dates at the end of each chapter! I'll try to work in a romance scene somewhere soon. =D

**Okay! So, my next update (unless I die or the world is overtaken by mutated chickens) will be **October 24

**Click on the little button below me, and… REVIEW!!!! =O**


	5. Chapter 5

**Ha ha! See????? I updated right when I said I would! =D**

**Yeah... so for those of you who were wondering about how she met Luna and Persona- you're about to figure it out! =D **

**Well, without further ado, here's the next chapter! X3**

**Mikan POV**

It had now been a week since the mask had fallen and I became the real me, and six days since the lake incident with Hyuuga. It was a clear Friday afternoon I was sitting in class, waiting for the lesson to begin, when suddenly _he_ walked in. The normal squeals from the flan club began and I snorted and rolled my eyes in annoyance, setting a sound barrier around me and Luna's desk to block out all of the noise.

"Pathetic." I heard Luna mutter

I snickered. "Tell me about it..." my voice was dry and the irritation that it held was obvious.

The two of us continued on talking, enjoying the silence that I had created, when all of the sudden I felt something penetrate the sound barrier. I whipped my head around to see Natsume Hyuuga standing before me, an arrogant smirk on disgusting face.

"Hyuuga." I snarled. "Get the hell out."

Luna glared at him beside me, and i waited for him to back away and leave. I faintly noticed the entire class staring at us from their seats instead of coming up like I knew they were wanted to. Smart move on their part. I turned my full attention back to Hyuuga and waited for him to leave.

Only he didn't.

"We need to talk. Now." Hyuuga's previous smirk was now gone and his face was serious.

"Fat chance, bastard," I heard Luna hiss beside me.

I held up one hand to silence her. My glare was now gone and replaced by a mask of annoyance and indifference.

"Hyuuga," I began, staring at my nails instead of at him, "why the hell should I? You can't order me around." I looked up to him, watching with amusement when his eyebrow twitched and he clenched his teeth. "Now go before I decide to melt you like a snowball in hell." I said impatiently, waving my hand in dismissal.

Only- like before- he didn't budge. Not one inch.

I created a spike of Ice in my hand, the cold surface growing from the center of my palm into a sharp, dagger sized weapon.

"I'll give you five seconds," I said in a dangerously calm voice, "to leave mine and Luna's space, before I kill you. I _will_ kill you, even if I decided to spare you last time."

Uncertainty flashed before his eyes momentarily before it disappeared and confidence replaced it.

_'What...?'_

"One..." I began.

He didn't move.

"Two.."

Luna looked at me uncertainly.

"Three..."

Hyuuga still hadn't budged.

"Four..."

My voice was now dangerously low, and a strange feeling began building up in my stomach as I realized that by the time I reached five, he'd still be there.

"Five." I said lightly. I lashed out at him, aiming for the heart and ignoring the feeling.

Though I couldn't hear it, I saw everyone gasp and Natsume's eyes widened as the ice neared him. I was about to make contact, when 'the feeling' came back so strong that my arm froze and I changed the direction of my ice blade, slashing across his shoulder instead of chest, thankfully at the same time as I heard a voice shout, "_STOP!"_ breaking my little sound bubble.

Natsume cried out in pain and dropped to the floor. Ruka ran up to him with a worried expression as blood began to spread and stain his clothes. Natsume looked up to me with an unidentifiable expression on his face.

The feeling left and I sighed in relief mentally that no one had noticed my falter in attacking the fire caster. I lowered my arm and closed my fist as the ice dissipated. I turned to see Narumi-sensei at the front of the classroom with an uncharacteristic seriousness about him.

"Take Natsume to the hospital wing. Now." He directed severely. Ruka gave a quick nod, and with Koko coming to help, dragged him out of the classroom. He then turned to me.

"Sakura-san," he said, his voice ice, "what do you think you're doing?"

The entire class's eyes widened- save Luna and I- at his tone. I smirked and shrugged.

"Nothing." I said calmly. My voice was light and taunting. "We were just playing, _Sensei_."

Luna laughed lightly by my side as Narumi narrowed his eyes at me.

"Come outside." he ordered, sliding the wooden door open.

I rolled my eyes and walked out of the door with Luna trailing along behind me. We walked out of the room and Narumi slammed the door shut. He turned to us slowly, an angry glare on his face.

"Luna," I murmured, "on second thought, go back to class for now..."

My best friend nodded hesitantly and left.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Narumi asked when she left.

I quirked an eyebrow in question but kept my face blank otherwise. "Care to elaborate?"

"Attacking Natsume? And Jinno? I knew that you were having problems with them but this?! What the hell is going on, Mikan?!" He shouted.

My eyes widened slightly as the usually excited and kind Narumi-sensei cursed and yelled at me, but reacted no other way. He stood there and waited for my reply. I just looked at him and we stayed silent for a while.

"Are you stupid?" I asked him calmly.

"Wha-?"

"I said; are you stupid?" Narumi just stood there, looking at me blankly. I sighed. "You want to know _why_?" I hissed at him. "The reason _why_ I nearly killed Jinno, the reason_ why_ I tried to kill Natsume, the reason_ why_ I am having problems and not making any contact with any of my 'friends' is because I hate them." Narumi blinked in surprise. "I always have. All of this time the happy and stupid Mikan that you all know was all an act. And she's gone now. Disappeared. _Dead_."

He opened his mouth to say something but I cut him off.

"The only reason why I even dealt with you freaks until now,"I continued, "is because I had an appearance to keep up. But not anymore. I'm sick of being trampled on by those who I could kill in an instant. And that includes you, _Sensei_." I sneered.

A look of hurt crossed the face of my teacher and I looked away.

"Goodbye sensei." I clipped, turning away and heading towards the nearest exit.

"Mikan, why?" I heard Narumi ask quietly. His voice was sad and I clenched my fists as I continued to the door.

"Because the mask fell." I replied softy.

I exited the building.

* * *

It was dark out and I was standing on my balcony, looking up at the full moon boredly.

I felt a presence behind me and turned to see a masked figure.

"Mikan Sakura?" It inquireed in a deep voice.

"I am she." I replied in a cool voice.

"The ESP wants to see you immediately." it said. "In regards of today's events involving the black cat."

I blanched when I heard the message.

"Thank you." I said, keeping my voice cold and calm. "You may leave now."

He nodded and disappeared.

* * *

(in the ESP's office)

"What the hell were you thinking?!" Shouted the furious voice of the boy elementary school principal.

He lashed out and struck me on the cheek, causing me to stumble back. I was bruised and bleeding all over and it hurt, but I ignored it.

"You may be our top operative, but you can't just go out and injure our second best like you did, just on a whim! He's now going to be out of commission for at least three weeks! You fool!" He shouted again, this time kicking me hard in the stomach and throwing me to the floor.

I looked up to him with angry eyes.

"Don't give me that look." he hissed. "Don't forget who brought you here- who gave you Persona- introduced you to Luna. I'm the one who discovered your true personality and gave you something to do. I'm the one who gave you everything that you currently have at this academy and I can take it all away and make your pathetic life even more hellish than it already was. I forgave you for Jinno, but I won't forgive you for this."

He kicked me again and I let out a hiss of pain.

"Do you understand?" he asked me calmly. He bent down to look at me, a smirk crossing his boyish features. I rolled over to my stomach and propped myself up on one elbow so that I could get a clear look at his face. "Well?" he asked again.

I nodded reluctantly and looked away. Taking my chin in his hand, he turned my face back towards him.

"Good girl." he whispered.

He laughed and let go, standing up and brushing off his pants before snapping once.

"Persona," he called, "Come get Mikan now and take her back to her room."

He appeared in a blur and nodded in obedience. He scooped me up in his arms and left the office.

"I'm sorry." he whispered as he walked to my room. "I tried, but couldn't stop him from punishing you."

I laughed dryly from his arms. "It's okay." I said.

We continued the walk in silence.

**... um... Tada? IDK if that was any good... but... yeah. ^^**

**NEXT UPDATE: I will try to update on Saturday, October 31, but it may be November 7 instead because I may be going to a friends house.**

**REVIEW!!!!!!!!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Me: Guess what? I'm bbaaaaaackk!**

**Random Reader: Nooooooo! *runs away in horror***

**Me: O_o**

***glomps* Kya! I missed everyone sooooo much! Ugh... no writing fan fiction for more than 2 months? Absolute hell. I was SO bored. Getting in a car crash is no fun at all! I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. T-T  
Thank you everyone who wished me luck on my recovery and is still reading my story even though it has been so long. You all are just so freaking nice! (well, most of you *poke poke* you know who you are... *cough* _chris3165912_****!!!! *cough cough* LOL no. Jk =P) OMG! This is the best! I'm so glad to be back! This chapter's for you! XD**

***I changed the note from before. You may or may not want to check it out* ^^**

**Disclaimer: I own it not! I wish I did though.... *sighs* Ah, what a cruel world this is! *strikes dramatic pose***

**Mikan POV**

The next morning, when I made to get out of bed, I found I couldn't. My body wouldn't respond to me as I tried to sit up and swing my legs over the edge of the bed to get up for school. Instead, everything ached and stung. Never had I been punished so badly...

"I really messed up." I said out loud.

I so badly wanted to use a healing Alice or go to the hospital wing, but one problem about being punished by the principal: he can order you not to and make you suffer through the injuries until the heal naturally. According to him it was further punishment or "atonement" for disobedience. If anyone tried to get healed, he would just punish them worse than before. All that you can do is take care of yourself and heal naturally.

"C'mon Mikan...." I muttered to myself. "We can do this..."

Grunting with effort, I pushed myself to a sitting position and swung my legs over the side of my king sized bed so that they were dangling over the floor. This whole process had taken almost 5 minutes of effort and pain and I dreaded actually having to walk. Sighing and then taking a deep breath, I set one foot on the ground and then the other - so far so good - and then slowly began to stand. The moment weight was set on my right foot pain shot all up and down my leg, stabbing and burning.

I screamed and crumpled back onto the bed. Sitting up enough to glance at the foot, I saw that it was extremely swollen and that there were bruises covering it from purple to read to some strange shade of green and the same on my shin.

"Damn it!!!" I screamed. (note that even talking hurt, but I was too angry to care at the moment) "That bastard he- he-!" I muttered a stream of curses before taking a deep, painful breath. "He must have broken it last night. Damn. I wouldn't have known though would i? _Everything_ hurt and Persona carried me back to my room..."

I sighed once again and a stinging sensation began to prick at my eyes. I may be cold, but I'm not invincible. This was just too much for the moment. Too tired and in too much pain to wipe them away, I let the unwelcome tears flow freely across my face, not making a sound the entire time and just letting them fall onto the messy white sheets. _Plip. Plip. Plip._

Unable to do anything else, i fell asleep.

* * *

When I awoke, it was morning once again. Everything hurt today even more than the night before. I was burning with fever and I was pretty damn sure that my injuries were festering. I needed to clean and dress my wounds soon otherwise I'll be in _big_ trouble. I sat up despite all the pain this time and bit my cheek hard in the effort. Blood tasted metallic in my mouth. I took a deep breath as I lowered my foot to the ground. When I stepped on my foot this time, I nearly blacked out. The pain was excruciating. But I sucked it up and began limping to the front door that led to the hallways. From there i would have to manage getting to Luna so that she could help me - that is if she was even there. It was still during the week and classes had started already. I could only pray that she had decided to stay in her room...

With great effort, I managed to make it from the special star wing to the three star where Luna's dorm room was. Breathing a shaky sigh of relief, I continued to my best friends room, only getting halfway down the hallway before I collapsed from the fever and pain. I could barley make out a dark figure running towards me before black waters pulled me under.

* * *

**Normal POV**

Amethyst eyes dull, Hotaru Imai walked through the girls dormitory in the three star wing, headed to her dorm room to collect some materials that she needed for a new inverntion from her lab. They were in Alice training at the moment so she could easily get out of the room and back in.

"Mikan..." she murmured to herself. Her normally blank eyes flashed with sadness momentarily at the sudden change of her used to be best friend. Had they all really been so horrible to her? Was she always just lying to everyone? She really didn't care? She clenched her fists tightly and quickened her pace so she could reach her dorm faster.

_'Work.'_ she said to herself. _'I just need to work - get it off my mind.'_

It was what she had been doing lately - completing one invention after another and doing so many things that she didn't even have time to think of anything else.

Five minutes and 134 steps later, she had gotten everything she needed and was now heading back down the hall to go back to the classroom, glaring as she passed the door of Luna Koizumi. She shook her head and looked forward once again, only to see a certain brunet limping down the hallway and collapsing seconds later.

Hotaru's mind froze when she saw this and dropping everything in her arms, she dashed to the fallen girl who, upon seeing her, stared at her with hazy eyes before falling unconscious.

"Kami-sama..." the ice queen muttered as she examined her friend.

She was wearing her uniform but it was torn and bloodied. Her arms and legs were covered in bruises and cuts and on her cheek there were four long, ragged scratches that seemed to have been made by someone's nails. On her left temple there was a large bruise. Her right foot and shin were obviously broken; swollen badly and with more colors than a rainbow. Her right wrist looked like it was sprained and one of her fingers was twisted at an odd angle. Through the tears in the fabric you could see even more bruises and cuts. Tentatively, she reached down to touch her friends arm only to immediately jerk back. She was burning up! With a fever this bad and and injuries like those, if she didn't get help she could die!

Pulling out a remote from her blazer pocket, she punched in a series of commands and moments later a giraffe shaped vehicle zoomed up towards the to. It picked up Mikan and set her in the back of it as Hotaru climbed in.

"Invention-" she began but then stopped and shook her head. Now was not the time. "To the hospital wing." She commanded icily. "Now. Hurry."

And with that, they speed off.

_

* * *

_

Subaru Imai was in the lobby, talking with a few of the other doctors and giving them instructions for the day. All was calm and like it should be before a strange looking giraffe car sped into the hospital lobby. Screeching to a halt, a teenager who he immediately recognized as his little sister walked up to him and grabbed him by the collar to jerk him down her her level.

"Hotaru!" he said angrily. "What the hell do you think that you-"

"Help her!" she demanded, cutting the older Imai off. Subaru went silent with surprise as his little sister looked up to him with tears beaded in her eyes.

His sister _never_ cried. Something was majorly wrong.

"Who?" he asked seriously. "Help who?"

"Mikan!" she said immediately. An that's when in dawned on him. Mikan Sakura was her best friend.... Hotaru released her grip on her older brother and Subaru stood up and walked over to the car.

"Oh my kami-sama...." he muttered when he saw the girl. Going into doctor mode, he began shouting out orders and several nurses came with a stretcher to get Mikan and carry her down the hall and into the closest hospital room. The whole hospital sprang to life as various doctors and nurses ran in, attaching an IV, checking temperature, and getting other information. Eventually they all ran into the closest ER room, leaving Hotaru alone except for one nurse who stayed to put a hand on her shoulder and give a reassuring smile, saying "She'll be alright," before following the rest of them in. The door was slammed shut and Hotaru knew she couldn't do anymore. Taking a few deep breaths to calm herself, she sat down in one of the lobby chairs and slipped back into stoic mode.

During the whole pandemonium, no one ever noticed the figure standing in the shadows, watching the scene with angry crimson eyes.

* * *

**Mikan POV**

I woke up to the sound of methodical beeping, muffled voices, and the smell of medicine. My mind was hazy as I tried to figure out where I was.

"She's been like that for two days!" I heard a girl exclaim in a cold voice. "When is she gonna wake up?"

Based on the sound I guessed that they were standing on the other side of a closed door since there voices were muffled.

"Look," a male replied, "things like this take ti-"

"I don't give a damn." she hissed. "You're a doctor. Do something about it."

At the word doctor the haze was wiped away and replaced by absolute clarity. Was I at the hospital? I snapped my eyes open and my worst fears were confirmed as i gazed at the IV drip, starch white sheets and various machines I was hooked up to. I was at the hospital!

"Shit." I muttered.

I shot out of bed and nearly fell over. I was wearing a pale blue hospital gown and my long auburn hair was worn loose across my shoulders. The room felt like it was 1,000 degrees so I guess that I still had a fever and my leg had a temporary cast on it and my finger a splint along with my wrist. There were bandages on my arms, legs, and my cheek and an IV drip needle was stuck in me. I ripped it out. The beeping sound picked up speed and I ripped the heart monitor off of me and began taking a better look at myself. My minor injuries were mostly healed but I could still see bruises and the major injuries were mostly healed but not completely. If the ESP found out, I was going to be in even bigger trouble than before.

He would hurt Luna. And Persona. My life would once again become a living hell... and my only friends would have to suffer too...

Panicking, I began clawing at my arms, trying to re-inflict the damage that had been done to me before. But before continuing I began tearing off all of the bandages on me and re-opening all of the wounds. I then bent over and began undoing the bandages on my broken leg. In the process I accidentally bumped into a glass vase that held a bouquet of flowers in it and knocked it over. It fell to the ground and shattered, the water splashing all over the tile floor. That was when the two people who were outside my door realized I was awake and opened the door.

Their eyes went wide as they eyed the broken vase and the bloodied me. The bandages on my leg were only partially taken off but I stopped where I was and stood up straight.

"Sakura-san!" Subaru shouted. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

"Mikan." a monotone voice said from beside him. I turned to see Hotaru standing beside him. I glared at the two.

"Get away!" I screamed as they began walking towards me. "The the hell away from me!" I began backing up and bumped into my hospital bed, stepping on the broken glass in the process. It dug into my feet and my blood began to seep onto the floor, mixing with the spilt water. They stopped.

Hotaru was the first to speak. "Mikan," she began calmly, "you're at the hospital now. It's okay."

I shook my head furiously. "No!" I said angrily. "It's not okay! Why the hell did you help me?! You're just making everything worse!"

"Sakura-san..." Subaru said uncertainly. "What do you mean?"

"I'll get punished again!! The ESP, he'll - he'll!" I began to create a ball of electricity to attack them in my left hand and Subaru's eyes widened.

"Nurse!" he shouted. "Get me some sedatives! Now!"

Almost immediately a nurse ran in with a shot full of a clear liquid meant to take me down. Hell no. When she tried to inject me I smacked her away with my other hand and she jumped back in surprise.

It was almost fully charged when it suddenly fizzled out. I was too tired to use any Alices, I realized. Stolen or not.

I needed a way to escape through the door.

"Damn it!!" I cursed. i was too weak at the moment. Desperate to get away, I grabbed the nurse, a long, broken shard of glass, and held it to her throat. The girl whimpered and I pressed it to her skin to shut her up. "Get any closer,"I shouted, "and I'll kill her!"

No one moved.

"Let me go, and she lives." I told them. They began backing away and I smirked. "Completely away from the door!" They had all gotten out of my way when a bandaged Natsume stepped through the door.

"Mikan." He acknowledged calmly.

"_You_..." I hissed. "Get the hell away, Hyuuga. Go back to your hospital room."

He just stared at me before dashing towards me and aiming a kick at the hand that held the glass. It was knocked clean out of my hand and I was forced to let go of my hostage. I screamed in frustration and got into a fighting stance.

"You're in no condition to resist, Polka." he said bordly. "Look at yourself; you're exhausted beyond belief and badly injured."

I snarled at the nickname.

"Shut up."

He shrugged and rushed at me. I tried to block the kick but I was too weak and was thrown back against the hospital bed. I hit my head hard against the the metal frame and I hissed in pain as warm blood began to trickle down my face. Natsume calmly walked up and pinned me too the floor. Subaru came up then and injected me with some liquid that would put me to sleep.

My vision began to go hazy.

"Baka..." I heard Natsume mutter.

"Bastard." I replied weakly.

I passed out.

* * *

**Natsume POV**

It was nighttime now and I was sitting in a chair on the right side of her bed as I watched her sleeping with worried eyes. I was the only one in her hospital room at the moment. Mikan's breathing was slow and even as she slept. Chains held her ankles and wrists to the bed now: no more escaping for her.

"Mikan, what happened to you?" I asked aloud, brushing the hair out of her face.

When we first met, she was a happy idiot who brought life to everyone at the academy - she was his light in the dark. He had fallen in love with her... But now - now she was a complete stranger. A monster even...! I brought my hand up to my bandaged chest. It was mostly healed thanks to Subaru Imai's healing Alice but there was still a long scab over it and if I moved wrong it would break and start bleeding. It'll scar for sure. She had also tried to kill me....

I sighed and ran my hand through my hair in frustration.

_-Flashback-_

_I watched her being dragged away by a couple of the stronger doctors so that they could re-dress her wounds and put her in a different hospital room. Slowly, everyone filed out of the room one by one except for one girl. She stared at me with cold amethyst eyes and I stared right back._

_Hotaru Imai and I had an unspoken alliance between us ever since she changed. The idiot was her best friend and my light. We both wanted her back, despite all that had happened. We would do anything to fix our wrongs. But even though we had an alliance, it didn't mean that we never had our own little arguments._

_"What the hell was that, Hyuuga?" she asked, cutting straight to the point._

_I looked away and shrugged._

_"Don't just shrug. You know something." she insisted._

_I didn't say anything and just continued looking away. Next I felt impact on my cheek and then a stinging sensation._

_SPLAP!_

_"Don't give me that shit, Hyuuga. She mentioned the ESP. That she didn't want to be punished again. I _know_ you know what she was talking about, so explain."_

_I glared at her. My cheek still stung but i shrugged it off._

_"Your the genius," I drawled, "you tell me."_

_She made a move to hit me again but I easily caught her wrist (with the arm that didn't have the injured shoulder) this time._

_"She was punished." I stated. "For hurting me I suppose... When the ESP gets angry or we do something wrong, his punishment comes in the form of a beating and we aren't allowed to get healed in the hospital or by an Alice. He sees us suffering through the injuries like that as further punishment. If he finds out that we get healed, we get punished again, even worse."_

_Imai just stared, her eyes wide._

_"Mikan knows that, so naturally, she panicked."_

_I looked down._

_"Then shouldn't we have let her escape?" Imai asked in monotone. "She could get hurt even worse than before."_

_"I don't know, Imai. I don't know..."_

_-End Flashback-_

I tightened my fist at the memory. Was keeping her here wrong? Before I could further ponder it, Mikan shifted and her eyes fluttered open.

Her eyes were filled with malice when she saw me.

"You're awake." I said in a bored voice.

She just snorted and rolled her eyes, reply with a sarcastic, "No shit, Sherlock."

_'She really has changed.'_

I glared at her but she ignored me. "Hmm...." she mused. "So they chained me to the bed, eh? This complicates things." she lifted up one of her arms and the metal links jingled and clanked when she shook them. She then eyed me. "And gave me a watch dog? Or should I say cat, Mr. Kuro-neko?" She smirked at me.

"Just shut up and go back to sleep, little girl." I drawled.

She made a sound of annoyance and rolled onto her left side so that she didn't have to look at me. "Piss off." she hissed.

"Hn."

"If Luna or Persona gets pulled into this, all because you and Imai decided to help me, i'll kill you both." she threatened.

Not wanting to bother listening to her, i stood up.

"I'm going to the restroom." I announced.

"Take your time!" she insisted. "In fact, never come back! Go drown in the toilet water or something." She laughed.

I felt a pang in my heart as I remembered the old her but I said nothing and instead, just walked out the door.

"Good riddance..." i heard her mutter even after I had shut the door behind me.

I began walking down the hall when someone began walking with me. I didn't even have to look to know that this someone had short black hair and cold amethyst eyes.

"She's awake?" Imai asked once I began walking down the hall. She had been waiting outside the room.

"Hn."

"I'll take that as a yes."

"Hn."

It was then that she turned around and left, probably to go to her dorm room to get some sleep since it was past midnight now. I should probably be doing the same thing too, But I had to make sure that Polka didn't escape. I paused mid-step. She wouldn't be able to escape during the five minutes that i went to the restroom, would she? I thought for a moment before shrugging and snorting. Impossible.

As intended, I went to the restroom. But when i came back, I found the room empty, the metal chains broken, and a folded note on the bed. I picked it up an unfolded it.

_You really are an idiot, you know? You should never leave someone like me unattended, dumb ass. Not even for five minutes. Oh and for future reference: those chains? Weak._

_-M_

I growled and crushed the letter in my hands. Damn it!

**Okay! This chapter is the longest one that i've ever written so far.... huh. LOL 4,050 words! xD**

**Hmm.... it's probably because I have been out of writing for so long, but this chapter feels kinda...well. IDK. Suckish? Hopefully it's just my imagination. LOL**

**Click the review button! You know you wanna!! =3**

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	7. Chapter 7

**Yatta! I FINALLY got my power back on tuesday! XD**

**Sorry it's been so long you guys... IDK if you all have heard but in the US we've been getting some insanely big snow storms and it knocked out my electricity... *sigh...* -_-' But hey! I'm back now so: YAY!**

**Disclaimer: Snow storms are bad. Asking your friends to inflict physical injuries upon you is even worse. Don't let the unicorns die out!! (and no. I don't own GA)**

**Natsume POV**

To say that I was pissed would be the understatement of a lifetime. No. I wasn't just pissed, I was infuriated. I punched the wall, breaking through the thin layer of plaster and the wooden boards behind it. I growled and sat down on the now empty hospital bed.

"Moron," I hissed, glaring at the crumpled up note on the floor.

I wanted to go after her. After Mikan. With the way that she was acting recently, I wouldn't put it past her to get Persona or something to re-inflict all of her wounds again, so as to not get in trouble with the ESP. But if I did, what would happen? And could I even find her? I brought a hand to the bandages on my chest. With this injury, would I be able to stop her from doing something stupid even if I did find her?

I stood up abruptly and left the hospital room. If I couldn't do anything, I at least had to find Mikan and try to stop her.

* * *

**Mikan POV**

I was standing above Persona's bed. He was sleeping under a solid black blanket with a black pillow under his head and wearing black pajamas in his black room. He still had his mask on. Clutched in his hand was a... pink stuffed bear? I snorted. _'Oh my Kami-sama...'_ I thought with disbelief. _'The scariest teacher in Alice Academy, feared by children and adults alike, sleeps with a stuffed animal? And... what's this?' _I wondered, inspecting the bear closer. On the right side of it's butt was a red heart that had the words 'Mr Snuggle Muffins. Property of Serio Persona' stitched across it.

A bubble of laughter escaped through my lips and I covered my mouth to try and stop it. Now was SO not the time to be laughing... I was here for a reason after all...

I watched as Persona rolled over and clutched the bear closer to himself and brought his thumb to his mouth.

I couldn't hold it in anymore. I burst out laughing.

My sides ached and the few injuries that were left still hurt, but that was just to damn funny! I fell to the floor (black carpet by the way) and continued laughing. Persona jerked up from his bed so quick that he lost his balance and fell off and onto the floor on the opposite side of the bed I was on. Mr. Snuggle Muffins was in hand and Persona whipped his head around franticly, looking for the source of noise that was me.

"Mr. Snuggle Muffins," Persona whispered to the pink bear, clutching it to his chest. "What's that sound?"

A new wave of laughter washed over me. He was talking to the bear now?!

"That laugh..." He murmured...

Persona reached up and flicked on his lamp and moved his eyes around the room until he found me, rolling around on the floor and shaking with laughter.

He blinked. "Mikan?" He asked skeptically. Instantly he hid the bear behind his back, even though it was dark I could still see the pink on his cheeks.

"You-! Y-" I began in between laughs. "Mr. Snuggle - haha! -Muffins?!"

I continued my onslaught of giggles as Persona stood there sheepishly.

-30 minutes later-

The last of my laughs were finally dying down and I took a few deep breaths to completely calm myself. I was sitting on Persona's black bed, my legs spread out in front of me.

"Okay..." I began after a moment. My sides hurt from laughing. Persona sat in front of me in cross-cross position, now wearing his typical all black clothes, boots, and white mask. He too had regained his composure and Mr. Snuggle Muffins was now hidden in one of his black drawers. "I came here because I need your help." I said, all seriousness back now.

Persona just stared, no expression showed on his face.

"I was healed - mostly - at the hospital," I began, glaring at the black sheets, "because that stupid Imai found me and brought me to her brother. I fainted in the hallway right before I could get to Luna."

Realization of what I was about to ask lit up Persona's eyes and I smiled sadly at him.

"Re inflict all of the wounds on me." I stated simply. There was no use beating around the bush. My voice grew darker with every word as I said, "I can't let the ESP find out: I don't want Luna or you caught up in all of this and I don't want to lose everything that I've worked so hard to gain."

"Oujo-sa-" Persona began. I held up one hand to silence him. All of the humor that I had felt mere seconds before was gone, as if it had never happened.

"Do it." I snarled, standing up.

Persona stood up as well and I began to walk towards the window that I had come in from. I didn't have to look back to know that he was following me. I jumped down and I went to the northern forest, Persona trailing behind me all the while.

When we got deep enough into the forest, I described to him all of the wounds I had received in detail, from the broken ankle to the bruises on my face. The DA teacher just stared at me, memorizing every detail as I spoke. It was 10 minutes later that I was done and I gave him an expectant look.

"Well?" I asked. "Go. Start. Begin."

* * *

**Persona POV**

I just stared at the teen as she described to me all of her injuries that she wanted me to redo. I thought back to what had happened just a little while ago: her silvery laugh filling my room when she had seen my most prized possession: Mr. Snuggle Muffins.

When she finished she gave me a pointed look and gave the command for me to start. I just looked at her. How could she ask me to do such a thing? Yes, I was among the most feared people in the academy - *cough cough* erm... stuffed animals aside.... - and yes; normally i didn't really care about anyone in this school and wouldn't give a shit about beating the crap out of them. Normally anyways.

But this wasn't a normal case and this wasn't a normal person. Wether I liked it or not, Oujo-sama had become a friend (in a sense) to me as well as Luna. She was our only friend in this academy and we always wanted to protect her, and she actually expected me to hurt her? because she thought that it was the best choice?

"Selfish," I hissed. The grass around me began to blacken and rot as I unconsciously used my Alice. It continued spreading until it reached Mikan oujo-sama where it stopped immediately and my Alice was forcibly subdued by her nullification. Neither of us noticed.

I glared at her angrily through my white mask.

"_What?_" she asked in a dangerous tone. I knew that I was treading dangerous waters but i didn't care.

"I said you're selfish," I said cooly. "You actually expect me to do it? To hurt you?" I laughed but it was totally humorless.

I gave her a look. "You may think that you're doing the right thing, hurting yourself to protect Luna, but your not. You're just hurting her, oujo-sama." _And me._

"Persona..." she warned.

"No." I said simply.

Oujo-sama rose one hand in the air and I knew that she was going to try to use an Alice on me, so I ran.

I lost her quickly and her infuriated shriek rand throughout the academy and it's grounds. I chuckled.

I knew that Luna wouldn't help her and she couldn't quite re-inflict all of those wounds herself, so I smirked in triumph. She couldn't create any clones to hurt her because, even though she may want them to, they won't hurt her. It's against human nature to purposely inflict damage against ones own body and even though she may consciously want it, she subconsciously doesn't. The Alice follows the subconscious in this case.

Now if only I had known just how desperate she had been... Just how insane she really was.

* * *

**Natsume POV**

I was searching, looking for Mikan everywhere in the Academy. I went to the classrooms, her room, the DA, training fields... But no matter where I went I found nothing. My chest hurt from running around so much and blood soaked my bandages and the jacket I had pulled on where the huge scab on my chest had broken.

Eventually.... I went to the sakura tree. _Our_ tree. Could she actually be there, I wondered? I snorted immediately afterwords. Of course not. But I went to the giant tree anyways.

Pink petals littered the ground below the tree and I sat down and leaned against its trunk when I arrived.

"Damn it Mikan..." I muttered as i winced.

I looked up at the sky right as I saw a masked figure running towards the Northern forest. The person wore the mask of a fox and immediately I recognized him as Hayate Kishimoto. He was one of the top ranking agents of the DA who specialized in capture and torture.

* * *

**Mikan POV**

I couldn't believe it. Persona, _my slave_, Ignored my orders? And called me selfish?! I spun around and landed a kick on a tree wish my good leg. The wood cracked under my foot and sent splinters flying through the air.

"Bastard," I hissed.

I brought my foot down and fell to my knees.

"What am I going to do?" I asked myself in a whisper.

I had seen what happened to those who didn't listen to the principal- what he did to their important some ones. Mangled bodies- torture. Blood. Bruises. Some were locked away in a dungeon. Others killed. I didn't know how severe the punishment was for getting healed, but I wasn't about to take any chances...

_"Selfish."_

I scoffed. "Yeah." I muttered. "Sorry for trying to protect you guys."

I sighed deeply.

"I'd jump off a cliff for them if it meant protecting either and that-"

My hazel eyes went wide.

A cliff.

Now, Gakuen Alice obviously didn't have giant cliffs upon it's grounds, but it did have lakes with waterfalls. And everyone knows that waterfalls start pretty high up.... and I just happened to know of one that was a good 30 feet or so tall. If one were to jump from the top and NOT into the water.... Surely that would work, right?

I ran off.

* * *

Standing at the top of the water fall, a couple of yards a way from the actual water I took a deep breath. There was plenty of ground below me and I knew for sure that this would work.

"That is if it doesn't kill me," I mused.

I watched as the water crashed violently down. A fine spray of mist hung in the air. I picked up a large rock and hurled it down the side of the waterfall and onto the ground, watching as it broke into hundreds of tiny pieces as it hit the ground.

Huh.

"Mikan Sakura!" I heard a voice call over the sound of the waterfall behind me. I whipped my head around to see a masked DA agent approaching. Shit. "Mikan Sakura! The Elementary School Principal needs you in his office! Now!"

Well, it was now or never. The ESP knew.

_'For Luna and Persona.' _I told myself.

I jumped.

Now, I wasn't so stupid as to just fling my self away and let gravity do the rest. No. that would probably leave me dead. Instead, I jumped so that I skidded and rolled down the steep side of the water fall, making the fall less hard and assuring me that I would survive. A controlled fall in a way. I made sure that I would be just a injured as before: no more, no less.

The entire fall was full of pain. I felt my body being bruised and bloodied. I was sure at least 3 bones broke.

When I hit the ground, I struggled to get standing and I began to limp away and into the forest. The DA agent was faster than that. In less than 30 seconds he ran down to me and pinned my battered body to the ground. He had my ams pinned down at my wrist with one hand and another was around my neck.

This particular agent had the mask of a wolf. The cruel face stared at me with sharp eyes.

"No use running, Sakura." he growled in a low voice. "The ESP warned you might do this." The boy leaned down to my ear and whispered. "Re-injuring yourself has done you no good. He knows what happened, and now you have to suffer the consequences. But don't worry," he chuckled, "Your little friends will be just fine.... _You're_ taking all of the blame this time. Isn't that great?"

Fear coursed through me but I tried not to show it. After all, wasn't this good? Luna would be safe. Persona too. But something in me said that I wouldn't get out with just a beating this time.

**Done. =O**

**R&R onegai? For the cute little kitty? =D**

.**^___^ \\  
(=^.^=)//**

**2,545 words! XD**


	8. Chapter 8

**Tada..... -_-'**

**Blah. I feel like total crap.... I'm sick. AGAIN! DX Roar! LOL oh well.... Here's the next chapter! ^^'**

**Disclaimer: Torturing people is not a good way to make friends or to have on your resumé when signing up for a new job that involves kids. Ever. LOL ;D (I don't own GA)**

**Mikan POV**

It hurt.

Oh it hurt so bad....

Air was pressing down on all sides of my head and body, I felt like I was being crushed to pieces and I couldn't stop the screams that ripped through the air as the pain worsened. After what seemed like days, but what was most likely just a few minutes, it stopped, leaving me panting for air and shaking in the chair that I sat in. My shaking caused the chains attached to my ankles and wrists to clink and jingle together.

I struggled to look up at the person who was currently causing all of the agony and through dim lighting and bleary eyes I could make out the cruel features that I had quickly come to hate. Obsidian colored eyes stared at me, a few pieces of his raven colored hair hung in his eyes, a large contrast to his pale skin. A wolf mask sat on a nearby table.

Hayate Kishimoto: an expert in interrogation and torture. He had two Alice's: air and mind invasion.

He had used the first one on me already. The second? Not just yet.

What he had used on me just moments ago had been air and he had been using it to condense the air around me and press down on all sides, creating a suffocating and painful experience. It was such a horrible thing that I just wished I could die and end it all. But of course I couldn't. Nothing ever went my way lately....

"Had enough?" he asked me with a sneer.

I did my best to glare at him, but failed miserably as I was still panting and shaking uncontrollably.

Hayate snickered at me and I bit back a nasty comment that was sure to make my already terrible situation worse.

I shifted in my seat, something which was possible for me now since all of my injuries had been fully healed by multiple healing Alice's the day I was captured. It was best for torture subjects to be healthy before the pain begins after all - to add to the suffering. So now, other than a few cuts and bruises given as a result of some of my snarky comments, I was injury free. That didn't make things any better though.

How many days had I been here now, anyways? I was kept in the same room always: dimly lit, smelly, no bed, and with chains attached to my wrists and ankles. There was no way to gauge the time that had passed and with the new limiter devices (three earrings: one on one ear two on the other, and a silver choker with a red stone on it that had been welded onto my neck) made my Alice's unusable.

Hayate looked down at me, his obsidian eyes cold as he drawled, "It's your fault, you know? Your punishment is worse for a reason. The ESP gave you the most freedom of us all because of your special... talents: a servant, a best friend, the ability to roam around and do whatever you pleased... but in doing so you broke one very important rule: you hurt one of the DA's best agents and then you got healed after your punishment was given." he paused in his little speech to grin at me. "And so now you have to suffer the consequences - something that also affects those all around you."

As if on cue, a piercing scream was heard. It was a scream that I knew all too well....

"Luna!" I gasped in horror.

At that point, something in me broke.

"Let her go!" I said desperately. Tears began to gather in my eyes and spill over. My best friend... was being hurt because of me...

"Luna didn't do anything!" I screamed. "I'm sorry for not listening! I got of control...! But... but please.... Don't hurt her anymore. I'll take her punishment instead!"

Hayate just stared at me, his expression blank and his eyes calculating.

"No." he answered simply. "I already told you once: this is your fault. Deal with it."

At that I broke down completely, and as he picked up his mask and left my cell, the sound of sobs and distant screaming echoed all around me.

* * *

**Hayate POV**

I closed the heavy metal door to her cell quietly and locked it with a series of clicks. I was now standing in a corridor that, other than myself, was completely empty. Prison cells lined the halls in all directions, empty except for its one captive: Mikan Sakura. And other than her sobbing, there was no noise, either.

There were no screams. There was no Luna. All that there was, was my Alice being used: mind invasion. A particularly cruel Alice used mainly for torture. With it, one can make their victim see whatever horrors they want.

I chuckled. I would release my Alice on her in a few hours... but until then? She would suffer. So badly. Because "this girl needs to be broken", the ESP had said. And what the ESP said was always obeyed.

I began walking down the long corridor, walking up the long set of spiraling stairs, and eventually through the DA room and out of the school. It was morning now. 8:04 to be precise. I still had a good thirty minuted before I needed to be to class - a place that Mikan would be nowhere near anytime soon.

I began walking towards the boys dormitories so that I could get a change of clothes. I had been at it all night again, torturing my newest victim. She had been locked up there for 5 days now.

As I walked I also passed by the hospital wing. The very last room had an open window and I glanced in it as I passed by. In the room stood a scowling Natsume Hyuuga. A blushing nurse stood in-front of him, stuttering and stumbling like the idiot she probably was. It looked like he was officially being released from the hospital, as he was dressed in his school uniform now and had a bag of his things in his hand. At that very moment he happened to glance out of the open window as well and obsidian met crimson. I smirked at him and his eyes went wide.

He had seen me that night that I had captured Mikan. No one had seen her since.

And now, with that simple exchange, he knew that I had her, too.

All of this occurred in less than 5 seconds, and in 10, Natsume Hyuuga and the hospital were behind me.

**Pause! =P**

**OK Vel..... sha. I is done with the chapter! ^^**

**R&R onegai! XD**


	9. Chapter 9

**I know, I need to die. My updates have been taking ages, and I'm sorry, but, life just so happens to be getting in the way a whole lot lately.... I'll try my best to update quickly! But, uh, hey: this chapter IS longer than most others, so I get credit for that at least, right? -_-''**

**Oh, BTW: Thanks for all of my reviewers!! Only 8 chapters (not including this one) and I already have well over a hundred. And thanks to all of my readers too. It makes me really happy to know that so many people read what I write ;D *hugs***

**Disclaimer: Some people just SUCK. They always have and they always will. The end. (I don't own GA)**

**Normal POV**

"_Where is she?_" he asked in a low, dangerous voice.

Hayate Kishimoto was currently pinned to a wall by an angry Natsume Hyuuga in the middle of the school. Teachers and students alike all gasped and murmured worriedly at what was currently happening, though no one tried to stop them. No one messed with Natsume Hyuuga.

Everything had been normal so far that day, other than the more broody than usual fire caster, until the now fighting boys had just so happened to pass by each other in the hallway on the way to Alice classes. One second everything had been normal and the next a burst of fire was sent straight at an unsuspecting Hayate that was quickly and skillfully dodged by said boy. Everything else had just led up to this moment here.

Crimson eyes burned into impassive obsidian ones.

"Where's who?" Hayate questioned in a calm voice despite his current disadvantage.

Natsume growled and raised a fist to punch his senior by one year when Hayate finally decided to make use of one of his lethal Alice's by stripping away the oxygen from Natsume's lungs and the air surrounding him. Immediately Natsume's grip on the front of the other boys shirt slackened and then he let go completely, gasping for the air that wouldn't come.

Shrieks of both surprise and fear surrounded to two as the entire school witnessed the Alice attack and watched the normally fierce DA student be rendered helpless. Hayate hadn't even lifted a finger. Finally some of the teachers decided to step in but were immediately forced back by the cutting winds that were sent towards anyone that got within a five meter radius on the two teenagers.

"You aren't the one who should be asking the questions right now, _kuro neko_," Hayate calmly said, obsidian eyes narrowing. "_I_ am the one who asks the questions here - not some lower classman that thinks he's better than everyone else just because he's considered a prodigy."

He bent down to whisper into his gasping kohai's ear and said, "And as for where the little blossom is: that is for me to know and you to never find out."

Hayate kept the oxygen cut-off from Natsume until the fire casters crimson eyes grew dim and he passed out.

* * *

"I had a little talk with your boyfriend this morning," Hayate said as he clicked the door to Mikan's cell shut.

It was once again time for her daily torture session and Hayate couldn't help but look forward to it. It was his way to relieve stress and it was always SO interesting to see how his little captive would react each day. Sometimes the sessions were a couple of minutes, sometimes a few hours. It all depended on his mood that day.

"I don't have a boyfriend," Mikan muttered in a low, raspy voice. It was obvious that she was still recovering from yesterday's session - he had decided on using air that day - and the obsidian eyed torturer couldn't help but be impressed that she was still holding up so well. It had been almost a month that the brunet had been in this small, dirty cell now and she had had to deal with both mental and physical torture thus far. The fact that she had lasted this long showed just how strong willed she really was. Or maybe stubborn was a better word.

Hayate smirked and stayed quiet at this and simply decided what to do today. Air torture was fun, but he felt like something new. And as for his mind invasion Alice? Well, the clever little teen had already figured that it wasn't real, and though it still scared her greatly for him to use that particular Alice, within a few hours she was able to manage to calm herself down. But he knew that the things he showed her still gave her nightmares whenever she went to sleep. It had taken her almost a week to realize what he was doing. In that week she had endlessly pleaded for her friends release and resorted to getting down on hands and knees and begging.

It was simply contemptible.

But then she figured it out and, though still somewhat shaken, regained her usual sarcastic and caustic attitude, comebacks and all. Within the first two weeks, his little prisoner had figured out that sarcasm earned her pain and had quickly shut up. But after her realization that she had been tricked it she came even more defiant and never stopped with her smart mouth no matter what damage was dished out because of it.

Today was going to be different, though. She wouldn't mouth off at him ever again after she got was in store for her. After Hayate's report to the ESP yesterday he decided to allow the use of one the DA's newest invention made solely to take the heart away from someone. Mikan would be no different.

It really was such a pity that she had gotten on the bad side of the ESP, Hayate thought wryly. If the two had met in another way, he was pretty sure that they would have gotten along just great.

* * *

**DA room**

"I need more training," Natsume snapped, stalking into the dark room. The sensei that he absolutely loathed stood in front of him, mask on, eyebrows raised in question.

"Oh..?" he questioned, "And why would that be?"

Natsume growled and punched a flaming fist through wall. "Because that stupid Hayate Kishimoto kicked my ass today without even lifting a finger."

Persona just stared at the enraged fifteen year-old before him with passive eyes. The expression on the uncovered portion of his face gave him a "So?" look and Natsume decided to tell him about Mikan. If anything else that would be the trigger to gain the teachers help - he probably wanted to find her jut as badly as he did.

"He has her," Natsume said in a now calmer voice. He saw his teacher stiffen slightly. Yes. He knew just which_ she_ he was talking about. "On the day that Mikan disappeared I saw Hayate passing by, and when I was released from the hospital as well he saw me and I could tell by the expression on his face. He must have gotten orders to keep her captive as punishment for some of her..." Natsume unconsciously brought a hand to his now-healed shoulder, "... mistakes this past month."

"Why didn't you tell me this before now?" Persona asked in a dangerously low voice. It was like the calm before a particularly violent storm and the tension in the room rose instantly.

Natsume shrugged and smiled inwardly. He had won. "Oh, I dunno," the crimson eyed boy drawled lazily, "It just.... never came up..."

Persona twitched. He had been looking for his Oujo-sama for a month now with no leads what-so-ever. The guilt that her imprisonment may have been due to his own stubbornness was killing the normally stoic teacher on the inside out. Luna had using her Alice on countless officials as well in an attempt to find her best friend, but even with their combined efforts, it all came up blank. And now Hyuuga had the first lead in all of that time, that he had gotten by chance, and he claims that it had simply never come up? He clenched his fists. He was so dead.

* * *

The entire walk to the lab, a blindfolded Mikan was led by the chains attached to her ankles and wrists. Hayate led the way. Eventually, after multiple turns and a lot of walking, the two came before a large, white door. A key pad was to the right of it, but Mikan couldn't see any of it of course.

"Stop." Hayate ordered in a murmur.

Mikan reluctantly did as he said.

_'Where are-?'_ Mikan never finished the thought as she felt a fist impact with her head and she passed out.

* * *

Mikan POV

The last thing I remembered was being that damn Hayate coming in for my daily torture session. No, the very last thing was being knocked out right after he had ordered me to stop walking... What had happened? Were they going move me to some new cell? Why?

At the moment I didn't know if I was awake of if I was asleep, alive or dead. I blinked repeatedly but there was complete and utter blackness; no shadows, no blurry forms, no pin prick of light. Just dark. Had they done something to my sight? Was I _blind_ now? The thought made my blood run cold. I know that I hadn't been on my _best_ behavior lately... (I snorted mentally) ... but blinding me?

Where was I? I remembered walking through those seemingly endless halls, stopping, the sharp pain. And finally passing out. Now I was here. But where "here" was? I had no idea.

Where was Hayate? I didn't _sense_ anyone near by. I tried to sit up but I was suspended or something - I couldn't touch anything, couldn't put my feet down. But I did feel wetness. And I could touch my face. My hair was wet. I reached out my hands, trying to make contact with something - anything - but felt nothing. There was water or something all around me, but it wasn't normal. I couldn't sink.

I swallowed and blinked again, the seeds of panic beginning to sprout within me. Where was I? What was wrong with me? Had they done the same thing to Luna? Persona? Was I _dead_? If I was dead I was going to be incredibly pissed. There was no way in hell (or whatever this place was) that I could stand being here place for an _hour_, much less eternity. No one had said that death would be so intensely boring. What happened to heaven, huh?

He heart was beating fast, my breaths coming short and shallow, my skin tingled because of the rush of blood to my muscles and main organs: stay or fight? Which reminded me... I moved my arm once again, clenched my fist, curled my toes. I couldn't feel a thing. How could I have missed that?

I tried as hard to move as I could, thrashing around in the blackness, but again, felt nothing.

Very bad news.

Where the hell was I?

_'Try to calm down.' _I thought to myself. _'If you're dead, you're dead and there's nothing you can do about it. If your not, then the moment you get the chance, you need to fight like hell and get out of this place - punishment or not. Because this by far is the worst thing that they have done so far I think. I'm going to go crazy in here!'_

I was completely alone. I couldn't remember the last time I had been completely alone. I was always surrounded by someone wether I liked it or not. So once again, where was I?

_You might not want to know._

Something said to me in my head. It was a completely neutral tone, no emotion. I couldn't tell if it was male or female, mechanical or real, but it was there.

Is this something that comes with this whole deal? Some little voice in your head to talk to? Or maybe I was just finally going flipping insane.... After a moment though, I shrugged. Might as well go with it.

"Do you know where I am?" I asked, my voice dropping into dull nothingness.

_Yes._

"So tell me already!"

_Are you sure you want to know?_

"No." I snapped. "I enjoy being in a complete state of ignorance!"

And this, kids, is why you should never talk to random voices in your heads.

_You're in an isolation tank. A sensory-deprivation chamber. I don't know where, exactly._

"Aw, damn. I really didn't want to know..."

An isolation tank. Nothing but me, my totally screwed up consciousness, and some asexual voice that just randomly appeared. Well, I could probably stand this for, let's say (just to be optimistic), ten minutes before I went completely _nuts_.

"Who are you, anyways?" I asked as an afterthought.

_You don't always need to know everything immediately. Soon you will know, but until then, be patient and time shall reveal the answer._

I snorted. "What are you, a fortune cookie?"

No reply.

Well, back to more important matters.

Knowing the combined wrath of the ESP and sadism of Hayate, I could be kept here for a year or two before I was finally released. But by then, who knows what could happen? I would probably go insane. Luna and Persona could die. I would lose the only things important to me right now.

For some reason my class flashed in my mind.

_'See?'_ I thought to myself. _'The crazies are already begging to set in: I just grouped my jerky class mates in with the important things in my life.'_

I needed to die, right now.

**

* * *

**

But I was Mikan Sakura, so of course things wouldn't be that easy, would they?

Of course not. My life never contained easy, pain free ways to accomplish things. I had to fight for what I got. That was apparent from the day I was born. I had to compete with other children to get adopted. Act to keep my home and make friends. Work my ass of to be considered worthy to the ESP. There was never the easy way out for me.

I don't know how long I was in the tank. It could have been ten minutes. It felt like ten years. A life time. Maybe I slept. I know for sure that i hallucinated. Again and agin I "woke up" to find myself back with my best friend and faithful servant, at the lake with them, playing pranks on the dark, feared, teddy bear hugging Serio Persona. I saw Narumi, Ruka, Natsume, and Hotaru, all waving to me and smiling; even the ever stoic Imai Hotaru and broody Natsume Hyuuga. Standing behind them were my sempai's and everyone else that i had met since I came here to the academy.

I think I cried for a while.

Basically, every thought I had ever had replayed in my head all over again at rapid-fire. Every memory, every color, motion, touch, every sensation replayed itself in my muddled brain as endless loops of thoughts and memories, every dream and hope over and over again until i didn't know what was real and what wasn't. I didn't know if it was just wistful thinking or from a movie i'd seen or a book that i had read. I didn't know if i was really some girl named Mikan and If I really had the power of Alice, or if i really went to a school full of kids with talents just like mine. Nothing was real except for being here in this tank. But maybe not that even...

I sang for a while. I talked, but eventually, even my voice went. Oddly, I was never hungry, nor thirsty. Nothing hurt. Nothing felt good.

So when the tank was finally cracked open and light poured in, it was the single, most painful and terrible thing that had ever happened to me.

**Nyee.... stop! Okay, so I guess that I will end there for now ^^ I'll try to update as soon as I can so if I take a while, I'm REALLy sorry! x/**

**Well, please review!! Any questions, comments, or ideas are welcome with open arms.**

**Words: 2,995**

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	10. Chapter 10

**Yeah... fro some reason, people have been unable to review for this last chapter. I have NO idea why.... -_-''**

**IT IS FIXED NOW THOUGH! (I think -_-'') Well, try and review again and if it doesn't work, PM me and I'll figure it out. BYW: anonymous reviews DO work, so you for sure can use those,**

**Disclaimer: I no own, so you no sue.**

**Mikan POV**

Big hands grabbed me and pulled me out of the tank and the touch was so painful that I screamed, but even the sound of my own voice pierced my ears so I immediately shut up. The light seemed to sear my retinas and I snapped my eyes shut immediately.

All of my senses were on overdrive after being in that nothingness for so long and when I was set down on a table and a dry towel was thrown over my shaking figure, I tried to stay as still as possible.

I lay in that same position for a while, curled up in a ball, eyes squeezed shut and not moving a muscle. I wanted to go back. Back to the tank and the blissful nothingness where there was no pain and no sound. I hated it outside.

"Mikan," a voice said after about ten minutes. It was so LOUD and I whimpered. I tried to open my eyes just a crack and found then that the light didn't hurt as much as before. A tall figure stood above me, obsidian eyes cold. Hayate.

"What?" I croaked out. "Go away. Put me back in there. I hate it here. I _hate it._" I wasn't even able to stop the tears from rolling down my cheeks, I was in so much pain. Even though the light wasn't as searing as before, it still burned and even my own voice sounded booming and loud to me. My body ached and hurt.

I heard a chuckled escape his lips.

"I guess that even the toughest can be broken like this." he said with a grin.

_'What?'_

He took the towel off of me and then picked me up and plopped me into that strange water once more.

_'What was that supposed to mean?'_ I wondered, thinking back to his last words.

The door to the tank was snapped close once more.

* * *

Being back in the isolation tank was a huge relief, for like, two seconds because then I remembered what he had said.

"Hey," I called hoping to hear from the fortune cookie voice again. I hadn't heard it since I first woke up here. "Are you there?"

No answer.

"What did her mean by 'even the toughest can be broken like this'?" I asked again.

_It means that you failed. _It replied eventually. _You succumbed to them, Mikan. You were put in here to take the heart away from you and make you the perfect little puppet that you were originally intended to be. And they succeeded._

I stayed silent - I mean, what could I say to that? He (or she I don't really know. Let's just go with "it" shall we?) - IT, was completely right. I needed to get out of this place ASAP.

But then all of those thoughts eventually went away as once more I succumbed to the blackness of this place.

_Oh Mikan, _the voice murmured, completely unheard to my jumbled up brain, _you are destined for greatness. Don't let something like this hold you back... break free._

If I had been coherent enough to notice, I would have realized that the voice now sounded a hell of a lot like a woman and that, for some reason, it was familiar to me.

_

* * *

Eve_ry time I woke up I just stared into the darkness. Why was i here again? Where was here? What is this place?

Every single time the same questions ran through my head, one after another, but I never came up with any answers.

_'But you should know this.'_ I told myself. _'You should know what you are doing in this place and what this place was. You should know these things, but you don't.'_

And just as quickly as I would ask those questions and tell myself those things, i would forget what I was thinking about and drift into slumber once more.

I repeated the process a couple more times, and after a few more times, when I woke up, I was no longer in the isolation tank.

* * *

Buy where _was_ I now? It was a cold place and I wasn't suspended anymore. I was pretty sure that i was dry now, but when I felt my hair it was slightly damp. I probably had been brought her about and hour ago... This place was just as black, wherever I was now located, but I could feel again, only it didn't hurt like it did before. I placed a hand to the floor and knocked on it once: the sound didn't kill my ears. I still didn't feel hungry, for whatever reason and my brain was still pretty much fried from being in the tank for so long.

"Huh." I murmured. "Hey, voice you there? Where am I now?"

There was no reply, and I sighed, but didn't even have the will to get angry because of it.

"Figures," I murmured.

* * *

**Normal POV**

"Natsume..." Persona growled irritably in warning. Said teen was currently seated high up in a tree, turned away from his teacher.

They had been training for about a week now and the fire caster was defiantly not pleased with the results so far. If he had been expecting to get better in such a short time her was sure as hell wrong. And now, he was ignoring his teacher, childishly acting as though he didn't hear him and also not giving any more information on his Oujo-sama, nor helping. That was the deal, you see. natsume helps find Mikan and get information on her and in return he is trained.

"Natsume come down here." Persona said again. The only response from the boy in the tree was to chuck a pine cone at his teachers head, narrowly missing him.

Serio looked down at the tree seed in disbelief.

_He did _not_ just throw a pine cone at him._

Another one came flying down shortly after the other one and this time the teacher swatted it away with one hand.

_'Oh. So THAT was how he wanted to do it. Fin__e_.' he thought, walking over to the tree that his arrogant student was perched on top of.

Placing his hands on the wide trunk, Persona began channeling his Alice through his hands and waking the tall pine tree start to disintegrate. And the tree went tumbling down, a suprised and now seriously pissed off teenager in it. He hit the ground with a crash and a small yelp.

"Now," Persona said smugly walking away from the fallen tree and student and back to the training grounds that they were practicing in, glad that he had won, "let's get back to training. You won't get better immediately but with time you will. After that, you need to help me find Oujo-sama."

There was no reply, so curiously, he turned back to see no raven haired, crimson eyed boy behind him.

The DA teacher clenched his fists.

* * *

**(1 week later)**

**Hayate POV**

"Mikan-chan...." I greeted with a sneer, opening the large metal door to her cell. Light poured into the small room and I watched as she flinched away from the light and covered her face with her arms.

She sat in the far left corner, shackles on her legs and wrists. Long auburn hair was down and splayed across the floor where she sat. Her uniform was torn and dirty and I offhandedly realized that I should probably give her something else to wear. She would just have to deal with her current dress for now, though. Each of my footsteps echoed all around us with soft clicks and Mikan flinched at each one.

Pitiful.

It had taken me more than a full month to break her, almost two - 3 weeks longer than any other victim I had been given before - and the ending result was now this quivering mess before me. It was amazing what you could do with technology nowadays, combined with a little bit of an Alice. This current Mikan Sakura reminded me more of a frightened, wounded animal than the fierce little thing that she used to be, always having a come back and a snarky little comment to throw at me no matter what the situation was. And then you isolate her completly, depriving her of any and all of her senses and she simply crumbles.

Being completely alone without any and all of your senses does something to you. It breaks down your defenses and, well, _tames_ you. It messes up the thought processes because of the sensory derivation and it forces you to lose the drive that you had once before and you fail to see why you were doing it in the first place.

I stopped directly in front of her, this girl who was only a year younger than me, and bent down to pick up one of the long locks of hair from the floor. The long hair slipped through my fingers easily and fell back to her. She had put down her arms by now but her face was tilted down towards the floor, her eyes trained on one of the tiles on the floor. Not once did she dare look at me. I sighed and unlocked the shackles on her feet that were attached to the wall and then her wrists.

"You," I said to her, a wry smile playing at my lips, "are in major need of a bath."

Her dull hazel eyes didn't even shift as I said that. They just continued looking down at the dirt brown tile as though it was the most interesting thing in the word. I frowned.

"Get up." I commanded.

The girl didn't budge and with a scowl I clamped my hand around her wrist and jerked her up to a standing position. She let out a small squeak of surprise as I did so and looked up at me fearfully.

"What a mess." I hissed in disgust as I began dragging her towards the open door of her cell. She didn't retaliate, which I didn't even expect her to, but she never once stopped looking at me with large hazel eyes that were full of fear.

* * *

"Here." I snapped, shoving her into the large bathroom.

The entire way here, all thirty minutes of it, she had been eyeing me like I was just gonna strike out at her and hurt her. To put it simply, it was annoying.

Mikan stumbled across the stark white tiled floor, a great contrast to her dirt covered feet and body. She looked around her wide eyes; the bathroom was completely filled with any and all things that a girl would need to get washed up and looking her best; soaps, gels, perfume, hair bands, ribbons and all of that other girly crap. There was a large white tub that was big enough to hold four other people in the center of it all and counters lined the walls, shiny mirrors above them all.

"You have 2 hours." I said simply and then began to leave the room.

But then a voice stopped me, low and barley audible. It was a voice that I hadn't heard in a long time.

"Why?" it asked.

I didn't even turn to face Mikan as I answered, "You are going to go see the ESP today."

And then I left.

**Dun duuun...... yeah. ^^**

**I feel like I am rushing this, so sorry if i am.**

**Questions comments and ideas are welcome! So if you have any, let me know ^^**

**Vell...... REVIEW PLEASE!!!!!**

**Word count: 2,218**


	11. Chapter 11

**OOH! I feel so unbelievably special that I can't even explain it! XD I have over 200 reviews!!! *does happy dance***

**Thank you to EVERYONE who has sent a review, anonymous and otherwise. And speaking of you anonymous reviewers, from now on, whenever someone sends me an anonymous review, at the end of each chapter I'll just post my reply to them there so that I have a way to answer them (I probably should have done this earlier but never really got to it -_-'')**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Po- aw dang it! Wrong section. *clears throat* I don't own GA ^^**

**Mikan POV**

I sank down into the water, shivering despite the fact that it was steaming hot.

The ESP? I was going to go see the ESP today? In - I looked over at the clock set on one of the many stark white counters - 1 hour and 45 minutes?!

Time was slipping by much more quickly than I would have wanted it to and I desperately wanted to stop time here and never go to see his cold eyes and hear his vicious words.

I shivered once again and cringed when my eyes started to prick with tears. I had been doing so much of that lately as well.... Crying. Didn't I used to hate crying? I couldn't remember exactly...

_You did._ said my personal little voice-in-the-head.

Those things are great. Really.

"Oh..." I mumbled. "It's you. Hi. I haven't heard from you since... time..." I trailed off, not having any clue.

How long _had_ I been locked up anyways?

_Two months._ Voice deadpanned.

"Oh. Okay then. Two months.... that was about 60 days, right Voice?" I asked in a calm voice.

_Yes._

"Oh. Okay then..."

After sitting in the water for a little while longer I scrubbed my body free of any and all dirt using some nice-smelling body wash and then shampooed and conditioned my extremely long hair. A couple more minutes spent doing this and that and I finally decided to get out of the water. i looked at the clock again. 1 hour and 15 minutes. Huh.

Drying myself off and taking extra time to get around the control devices and putting on a fluffy white robe I walked over to one of the counters and stared at the hair dryer on top of it. All of the buttons on it looked completely foreign to me and I was at a loss of what to do. Faintly i wondered if I should ask Hayate, but then quickly dismissed that though as cold fear washed over me at the thought. No.

_Plug it in and move the switch to "on". _Voice said.

I knew that.

_They really messed up your head._ It muttered with.... was that sadness? annoyance maybe? i wasn't actually sure that I head heard it at all, since it was always totally emotionless before.

I clicked the hair dryer on and it roared to life. For a good 45 minutes I followed all of the instructions given to me by the voice on how to work the electronics among other things. This was a new experience for me, but for some reason I felt as If I had done this many times before....

I had just finished straightening my hair when I moved onto "make-up". I picked up some of the many items and stared at them with curiosity. This goes on my eyes, something told me as I stared at the sparkly brown powder. But it wasn't the voice.

_Do you know what you're doing?_ the voice questioned.

"Yeah..." I murmured, astonished.

Foundation, eyeliner, eyeshadow, mascara, eyelash curler, blush, and finally lipgloss. One after another I applied each of the cosmetics, not to heavily, to accent my features and bring out some more of my natural beauty. It was like a routine, really. How odd...

_15 minutes..._ Voice warned. _Go to the closet and get out a uniform._

I did as the Voice said and pulled on a blue plaid skirt with a dress shirt and jacket. Slipping on the black boots that came with the outfit, I looked at the finished product in the mirror.

"Done." I announced, pleased.

I looked over to the clock. Time up.

* * *

**Hayate POV**

I opened the door to the bathroom to find Mikan sitting on a stool, looking around and appearing somewhat lost. Typical as of late. But what was different was that she was clean and nice looking for once. Her long hair was no longer tangled and dirty, but straight and hanging around her in a cascade of auburn locks.

"Mikan," I said, to gain her attention. Before the tank she would have sensed me the moment I was within 50 feet of her. Now I was 10 feet away and she still didn't notice me. Oh how things change...

She turned around to me and I immediately saw fear flash across those hazel eyes of hers. She hopped of the stool and hesitantly walked over to me, eyes pointed down. Immediately I was assaulted by the sent of strawberries and vanilla. Her hair swayed with each step and I had to admit the she was a pretty picture and more like the girl that she used to be - in appearance if anything else.

Clearing my throat I turned around and gestured to the door.

"Let's go." I said gruffly.

* * *

**Normal POV**

"Ah... Mikan..." The Elementary school principal greeted with a large smile in his childish voice. Mikan was alone in the room with the man that was the source of all of her problems as Hayate waited outside the door. The ESP sat behind a large wooden desk, she stood in front of it. "How are you? I trust you are on better behavior now?"

No answer. Mikan fidgeted and continued looking anywhere but at him.

"Mikan?" The ESP asked again, a hard edge to his voice this time. His smile was gone and replaced with a frown.

The brunet blanched and nodded franticly. "Yes, sir!" she exclaimed.

The seemingly 11-year-old regained his smile and folded his hands on his desk in front of him.

"Good, good...." He said. "Now, you are going to go with Hayate again once I dismiss you and he will show you your new living arrangements. You aren't going to be going to school ever again after this. Too many distractions," he explained simply with a dismissive wave of his hand. "I'll have someone else teach you in your spare time and you will be living near Kishimoto-san so that he can keep watch over you and keep you in... check."

He looked up with cruel eyes.

"Right, my little Mikan?"

"Yes, sir." she whispered.

"Now," he said in a sickeningly sweet voice, "run along. Kishimoto-san will take you to your room."

"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir. Good-bye, sir."

Mikan left the room as quickly as possible.

* * *

As soon as the door was closed to the principals office Mikan's knees went and she slid down against the was. Her heart was hammering against her ribs painfully in fright and her breaths were coming shallow and quick. She put a hand on her chest and tried to breath slowly to stop her panic attack.

Kami-sama he scared her....

_Breath in, breath out_ her voice instructed helpfully. _You need to work on not showing your fear and not fearing him. They want that._

_'What do you mean?'_ Mikan wondered with a frown.

_You're their puppet, but you aren't the kind that can be controlled with normal strings, so their strings are made of fear... Don't you want to break them?_

_'But that's impossible!'_ Mikan argued, he mind reeling at the possibility on not becoming nearly paralyzed in either the ESP or Hayate's presence.

The Voice never replied.

Meanwhile, watching the girl with apathetic obsidian eyes was Hayate. He stood directly in-front of her, 10 feet away and ran a hand through his raven hair in irritation.

He sighed. _'What the hell is wrong with her?'_ he wondered. _'She's freaking out._'

10 more minutes and she was still just sitting there on the floor. Hayate silently thanked Kami-sama for the fact that she didn't react this badly whenever he was around. He didn't know how he would deal with her if she did. He sighed in annoyance.

"Mikan," he said.

She looked up.

And Hayate was about 3 inches away from her face.

Mikan breaths hitched and she paled. He was so close that she could see the flecks of cobalt blue in his dark eyes and feel his hot breath on her face.

"I don't have time to babysit you and wait for you to calm down and come with me," he whispered in a chilling voice. "So shape-up, and come with me to your new room, _now_. Okay?"

Wide hazel eyes full of fear just stared back at him.

"_Okay?_" he asked again, trying not to shout in frustration.

"Yes, sir." she whispered, and looked down.

"Good-girl." he said, standing up. Mikan was looking up at him now, looking somewhat unsure. Hayate found himself sighing for a third time in a very short amount of time and reached out a hand to her reluctantly.

For a moment, Mikan just stared at it before grabbing hold and Hayate yanked her up.

"Let's go." he said simply, dragging her down the hallway. Flustered, all that Mikan could do was follow behind him.

* * *

"Tada." he said blandly.

Mikan and Hayate were now standing in am extremely large room with light pink walls and a large canopy bed. The floor was a fluffy white carpet and there were some wooden drawers and a dresser pushed up against the wall. Three more doors, one for her closet, a kitchen, and the other to her bathroom, were wide open and reviling even more space. There was a huge window, a couch, and a large, flat-screen TV with a coffee table between them. Other than that, the room was bare, but extremely beautiful nonetheless.

Mikan looked all around her with wide eyes. "This.... is mine?" she wondered.

"Yeah." Hayate answered cooly. "Double the size of a special star. This is what you get when you are a good girl and do what the principal tells you, got it?"

Mikan nodded and walked over to the bed and climbed onto it. It was fluffy and soft and she sighed in content. She looked up to her captor and smiled despite her fear.

"Yes." she said happily. "I think I could get used to this."

Hayate blinked in surprise at the sudden show of emotion that was not related to fear and something that he hadn't seen since she was imprisoned. Smirks did not count. She then collapsed on the bed and rolled around on it. Idly he was reminded of a kid and rose an eyebrow.

"Okay then," he drawled. "I'm going now. Leave this room and you're toast."

Mikan watched him go silently before shrugging and resuming inspecting her new home.

**Yeah... lame chapter... but it's something, right? ^_^''**

**Okay, well then: review please!!!**


	12. Chapter 12

**Tuhdah. *sighs* aw, maaaannn..... I'm so tired! *yawns* Well.... here's the new chapter... enjoy-! *falls over* ZZzzZzzzZzzzz -.-**

**Special thanks to my beta: AvengedRomantic ;D**

**Disclaimer: You guys should know by know but I'll say it anyways: I AM AWESOME! (lolz Jk) XD (but I still don't own GA =P)**

**Normal POV**

"Tsubasa Andou, right?" a teen inquired, standing in the doorway of the Special Class.

The aforementioned boy turned around to see who was talking to him. The familiar owner of shiny, midnight blue hair, the commonly possessed hat on his head, and the comforting, yet strange and unusual, small black star tattoo under shocked dark blue eyes, stared into outwardly impassive but inwardly worried green eyes.

"Eh??" he exclaimed, walking over to a certain soul-sucker. "Luna Koizumi? What are _you_ doing here?" he asked with a snort, more then a bit of amusement layered underneath.

"Hey, Misaki, Come see who decided to stop by and say hi!" he said with a grin, turning his head to look back at his female counterpart.

"Tsubasa, wha-" she began with annoyance, before seeing who was standing in the door. "Luna?" she asked incredulously, her face quickly settling into a scowl. "What do _you _want? If you're going to try and use your Alice on us again, you're out of luck. We know what you can do this time."

"Nothing much," Luna replied impassively. "And I'm not going to use my Alice on either of you again, so don't worry." Tsubasa snorted. "I just wanted to know if you have heard anything about Mikan?"

Tsubasa looked at her blankly, scratching his head as Misaki rose an eyebrow and crossed her arms over her chest in thought.

"Mikan?" Tsubasa asked stupidly. "Like what, the fruit?"

Luna looked at the blue-eyed teen incredulously.

"What? No!" she exclaimed. "I mean, _Mikan_: the person! Your favorite kohai?"

Of all of the people in the academy that didn't know the real Mikan, said girl actually sort of _liked_ those two - and they didn't remember her?!

Tsubasa just kept on looking at her and shook his head in exasperation. "Look," he said with a sigh, "I don't have time for fun and games. Just go-"

"You mean the shrimp?" Misaki asked suddenly, speaking for the first time in a while. She had a hazy look in her eyes, like she was remembering something from long ago, something that was a distant, hazy memory.

Luna couldn't help it: she smiled.

"Yes, yes! Hazel eyes, auburn hair. You remember her, right?" she asked.

"I..." Misaki began, her eyes going wide, "yeah! Where has she _been? _I haven't seen her in a long time - I've been worried about her.... what about you, Tsubasa?" She turned to look up at him.

"_Seriously_?" he asked with a scowl. "Now you're in on this too? I've never met anyone who goes by that name." he insisted. "What? You two honestly think that I could just forget someone like that?!"

"Tsubasa! It's Mikan! She's been here since she was ten years old. She's in the special abilities class - she has nullification!"

"No one in this class has that Alice."

With a glare at the shadow master she turned away and walked up to some of the other students.

"You guys remember Mikan, right?" she asked with pleading eyes.

"Who?" was the most common reply, with only a few people saying, "Wasn't she that kid with the nullifying Alice?" at best.

After yet another kid walked away, Misaki just stood there with a blank look.

"But..." she muttered. "I know that she's real..."

She turned a wide-eyed look to Luna who was standing in the same place as before, a look of confusion on her face.

"What's wrong with everyone?" she asked the younger girl.

"I... I don't know...." came her muttered reply.

Beside Misaki, Tsubasa snorted. "You just _love_ messing around with people, huh?" he asked Luna. "Let's go, Misaki," he sneered. "I've had enough of this: she's just messing with your head."

Grabbing her hand, he dragged her away from the soul sucking Alice, her giving a stuttered, "y-yeah..." and a look of confusion.

"I suggest you leave now before I remove you forcibly," Tsubasa called over his shoulder, casting a look of distain at the verdant-eyed teen.

* * *

What was _happening_?

Luna Koizumi sat down where she stood with a sigh and fingered the soft green grass below her, legs splayed out before her and arms behind her as a prop. An expanse of blue was spread out above her and with troubled green eyes, she watched the white puffs known as clouds pass by lazily.

Another sigh.

There had been no leads whatsoever so far on her best friend. She had forced information out of countless people - students and teachers alike- but come out with nothing. And as time went by, something strange began to happen... people forgot. She would asked about Mikan and they would claim to have never heard of the girl before. Even her own two sempai's forgot who she was! Except Misaki that is. But even she had trouble remembering the hazel-eyed nullifier at first. One by one, _someone_ was erasing their memories. Or locking them away, at least. It was like she had disappeared of the face of the earth! They hadn't... _killed_ her, had they? Is that why peoples memories were being removed? So they wouldn't question the sudden disappearance of the girl that changed the Academy? Luna shuddered at the thought and drew her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around them and putting her head down.

What had happened to Mikan?

People didn't just… _vanish_? Did they?

Even _Alices,_ the most vulnerable humans there were, didn't disappear into think air.

"Luna Koizumi?" a voice asked above the depressed strawberry-blond.

She looked up, startled, to see a boy wearing a wolf mask above her.

_'I hadn't sensed him at all...'_ She realized with a frown.

Dressed in all black and towering over her, Luna felt an uncharacteristic pang of fear as she hesitantly answered, "Yes. Do you need something?"

"That is all," he said.

Luna nodded warily and stood up.

"If that's all," she said, "then I'll just be going now-"

In a flash she was back on the ground again, pinned to the grass by the tall boy. He cast a shadow over her and cruel eyes flashed through the eye slits in his mask. Reaching into his pocket with one hand, he pulled out a silver colored Alice stone and closed a fist around it. Even with his hand covering it, Luna could see tendrils of silver light escaping through his fingers as he placed his opposite hand on her forehead. She began struggling now, squirming and shrieking but to no avail.

_'Him!'_ she thought with crazed fear. _'He's the one doing this! He's the one messing with everyone's memories... one by one, he's taking them all! And _I'm_ next....!'_

"Mikan Sakura is not your best friend," he began in a low voice. "You don't know her, you've never seen her- she doesn't even exist. You don't know that girl and she does not know you." he said. "Are we clear?"

Luna had stopped trying to escape, but didn't answer.

"_Are we clear?_" He asked again.

Emerald eyes glazed over. "Yes," she whispered, dazed. What was happening?

"Who is Mikan Sakura?" he asked.

"I don't know..." she replied, sleepily. "I've never heard of her before...." But she had, she should be caring! Something about that name, something… No, it didn't matter. She had never heard of that person, and didn't care.

"Good." he said, smirking beneath his mask. "Now sleep."

And she did.

**-Pause-**

**Luna hasn't been here in a while, so I sort of felt like making a whole chapter just about what was going on with her. She deserves some attention too! =P**

**Ehem! (in announcer voice) Well, Hayate is off to being an ass once more and being his self at the moment, and Natsume is still throwing tree nuts at his teachers. Mikan is hiding out in her abnormally large room and Luna is now another oblivious victim of the memory Alice. Misaki has now been brought into the picture along with a reluctant Tsubasa (cause i just love those two and they aren't in any of my ficts yet DX) and ESP is being a butt head like ALWAYS! Tune in next time for the next adventure! -cuts to ending theme- ;D**

**REVIEW PLEASE!!!!!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Sorry that I haven't updated in a while. School has been insane cause the year is coming to an end and I had a dance competition last weekend as well D;**

**Props to my Beta: AvengedRomantic**

**Disclaimer: Я не являюсь владельцем Гакуэн Alice ^^ Don't know what it mean? GUESS =D (haha! Russian... ;D)**

**Normal POV**

_Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap , tap..._

A growl of annoyance.

"Damn it...!" a teen hissed, sapphire blue eyes narrowing in a mixture of concentration and outright irritation.

_tap, tap, tap, tap...!_

"Sakura," he muttered aloud unconsciously, drumming his fingers on the wooden table furiously, "Mikan Sakura...."

_"Tsubasa! It's Mikan! She's been here since she was ten years old. She's in the special abilities class - she has nullification!"_

His eyes twitched, the small black, star-shaped punishment mark crinkling slightly as they did. The thoughts were taunting his memory,

_Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap...!_

"Favorite kohai," the shadow master snapped, running a free hand through midnight locks, his hat trapped by the same hands elbow. "Yeah, right! Like I would forget someone I knew that long so easily... Hmph. What do they think I am, stupid?!"

But…

_TAP! TAP! TAP! TAP! TAP! TAP-!_

"If you hit it any harder than that, you'll break the table, you know." A boys' voice said from a hospital bed.

Bewildered, Tsubasa Andou looked up to see the kind brown eyes staring down at him. A small smile was on the face of his best friend Kaname Sono as he stared at him, his blonde hair a disarray of soft waves.

The shadow master was sitting in a chair that he had pulled up to the side of his friends hospital bed, a wooden table in front of him that he leaned on. The boy in front of him sat upright in the hospital bed, propped against some pillows, under the bright white sheets. His faced displayed calmness with a dash of amusement, but his chocolaty eyes concern.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

Tsubasa just stared.

"What do you mean?" he asked, raising an eyebrow in question.

Kaname chuckled mirthlessly and leaned over to flick the seated boy on the head.

"I mean, why are you pounding on the hospital table so hard with a look on your face that just screams, 'I'm pissed!,' that I think it's going to snap in two?"

"I'm not-!"

Kaname rose a hand, successfully stopping the hot-headed Alice in one smooth motion.

"Don't," he said simply. "Its obvious something is wrong... so tell me."

Tsubasa looked down for a moment; dark blue eyes conflicted until he finally raised his head to look his sick friend in the eye. He didn't want to share, but something suggested it might be a good idea.

"It happened yesterday, you see," he began with a frown, "Luna Koizumi, came by asking about a girl named 'Mikan Sakura'..." and his hesitant voice continued on…

* * *

**Mikan's room**

"Bored, bored, bored..." Mikan muttered with a sigh, rolling onto her stomach with a frown.

She had already explored her now home quite thoroughly and picked up some of the books she found. She quickly lost interest with all of them. And as for the large, flat _thing_ against the wall that sat in front of the coffee table? What was that thing anyway?

Mikan believed it was called a "TV" but she had no idea how to make it work. The Voice hadn't bothered to help, either.

Another sigh.

"Nothing to do," she complained to no one in particular and closed her eyes.

If she couldn't find anything to entertain her in this place, then she could make it up on her own. Mikan quickly brought up the image of a large, scaly beast to her mind. It was a soft blue color and moved gracefully through the air: a dragon...

* * *

**Hayate's POV**

"What in _hell_ are you doing?" I snapped.

"Huh?" Mikan asked, rolling over to look at me. Fear flashed across her features before she gulped and said, "N-nothing..."

She was currently lying on her stomach on the plush carpet of her room, hugging a large pillow in her arms. Above her floated the remains of what used to be a dragon of water that just a few moments ago had been flying above her, curling and diving in intricate arcs and glides as she laughed with glee until I decided to make myself known and, as usual, scared her. After that, most of the liquid evaporated instantly, a few droplets splashing down and the rest remaining suspended in the air above her. She was using an Alice.

"When did you learn to do that?" I asked in a low voice.

Mikan sat up immediately, straightening out her sky blue t-shirt and brushing off her jeans. "W-what?" she asked. "The, uh... dragon?"

I nodded and resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

She shrugged. "I was bored," she admitted in a whisper, "so I decided to lie down and imagine. I was thinking of a dragon of water when I felt something splash onto my cheek- I opened my eyes and there it was. It was forming above my head just as I saw it in my head and pretty soon I realized I could control it too... I-I, uh, was playing with it when y-you came in, Hayate-san. I'll get rid of it." she ended quickly.

Mikan lifted one hand above her and the water that was left started forming into a translucent blue orb. When all of the water was collected she closed her fist abruptly and the water disappeared with a hiss.

Intrigued, I began approaching her, taking long strides and stopping directly in front of her. I bent down to her level, where she flinched and looked away.

"I'm sorry!" the brunet said. "I'll never do it again! I swear. I didn't know... I was just bored, really. I-"

"Silence."

She shut up.

"Don't. Apologize," I ground out with irritation. "This is good."

"Good?" Mikan asked with hesitant curiosity.

Stupid...

"Yes. The ESP will be very pleased."

More fear rose in her hazel eyes.

"In fact, I'm going to set up a little meeting with him so that you can show off your new skill."

"B-but why?!" Mikan asked worriedly. It was obvious that she didn't want to see him again. The isolation tank had done its trick.

"Because, he needs to know that you can use one of your Alice's already." I said simply.

_"Alice?"_ her eyes asked.

I sighed. Why me?

"It's a special power. You originally have two: nullification and SCE (steal, copy, erase). Because of the SCE you also have obtained a variety of other Alices as well, which you will learn to use later."

Before she could ask another question I continued on.

"You are going to work for this Academy, _Mikan,_" I spat. "You will do missions, you will train, and you will not disobey or else. _Got it?_"

Mikan nodded her head quickly.

I smirked. "Good."

She had no choice anyway.

**Tuduh. Done ^^**

**Next update shall be next week!**

**R&R!!!!!!!**


	14. Chapter 14

**School! Is finally over! Yes! Sorry that it has been so long. Exams have been crazy (though that is a given with high school I suppose) And I HOPE to be able to update more regularly, but my older sister is going to be graduating soon and family is coming in and I have dance and am going to nationals... ugh. I have way too much to do -_-''**

**There will be a lot of hopping around in this chapter, but it's long- so there! XD You will see a little bit of all the important characters along with a few new elements as well. ENJOY! =D**

**Disclaimer: If you don't know by now, I am seriously questioning your literary skills.**

**Normal POV**

"Soon." Persona said, watching Natsume carefully through his white half-mask. "You will be ready to confront Hayate soon."

Natsume grinned, crimson eyes sweeping over the carnage of the training ground around him created by week upon week of nonstop training with his DA teacher.

"Now," Persona continued. "repeat the exercise from before, double speed. I want 10 more repetitions before we move on to the next thing. Now!"

"Yes, Sensei."

* * *

OoOoOoOoOo

* * *

Luna Koizumi stared out of her bedroom window, a blank look in her eyes.

It was foggy, her mind at the moment. She felt like she was forgetting something _completely_ important, but each time she began to grasp it, it would slip through her fingers like butter.

Maybe it was best to just forget about the strange feeling she had.

* * *

OoOoOoOoOo

* * *

"Of course I remember her," he said, looking surprised at the idea of forgetting about the kid. His soft chocolate brown eyes held a strange emotion in them and Tsubasa got the feeling he knew more than he was letting on, but decided to brush it off. "You brought her with you on more than one visit. She's a really sweet kid too... How on earth could you have forgotten her?"

Tsubasa stared at his friend with wide eyes. He was sitting in the same chair that he was in from the beginning of his visit and Kaname was still sitting up in the hospital bed, listening patiently. He had just finished his little tale about the source of his dilemmas and Kaname's reply did nothing to lesses his problems. It just added more. "I... I don't know... Kaname, something is majorly wrong with all of this."

The shadow master stood up from his chair abruptly, conflicted eyes looking at the ground with worry as he gnawed on his lip.

"Tsubasa...?"

"Look, I'm sorry man, but I've got to go. I need to find Luna."

It was all he could do to not break out into a sprint as he left the room.

He never noticed the pitying look on his friend's face as he left.

_'I hope you find her, Tsubasa.'_ he thought, watching the retreating form of one of his best friends. _'I swore not to say anything, so this is all I can do for you- just reassure you that she is real.'_

* * *

The shadow master whipped around the first corner at a fast pace, only to crash into someone and fall back, tumbling to the floor and landing unceremoniously on his butt with a yelp.

"Ouch...!" he hissed in a low voice and looked up to the person he ran into with a scowl. Obsidian eyes framed by ebony hair stared back at him, hard and cold. Beside him stood a girl with long, wavy auburn hair and expressionless hazel eyes. She blinked at him, not saying a thing.

"Let's go," he said, completely ignoring the boy on the floor. The girl followed obediently.

For some reason, Tsubasa couldn't find it in himself to call the obsidian-eyed teen out for knocking him to the floor and walking away without a word to him. Maybe it was nerves, or because he was so surprised by the suddenness of it all. When he would look back to the incident later in life, he would realize that it was because those cold eyes were those of a killer and he instinctually knew not to mess with either of them.

He watched their fading forms walk down the hallway, turn the first corner and vanish.

* * *

"Hayate-san?"

"Hm?"

"May I ask what we are doing in a hospital of all places? I thought we were going to the ESP."

"No," he answered in a clipped tone. He pulled out his signature wolf's mask from the inside of the jacket he was wearing and placed it on his face. "Wait out here." he ordered coldly.

Mikan obeyed.

She was now standing alone outside of a patients room with the name "Kaname" printed in neat gold letters on a nameplate.

"I wonder what he's doing...?" she wondered aloud, but she remained motionless, waiting.

* * *

"I see you have finally come for me, Hayate-kun?" the boy in the hospital bed asked airily. He was staring out of the window and away from the ominous masked figure just three feet away from him.

"It is what the ESP has ordered." he replied softly.

"Of course." he turned to him and smiled, looking unconcerned. "I assume that you aren't just going to remove my memories like you have everyone else's are you?"

There was no reply.

At the lack of speech from the masked figure, Kaname chuckled.

"You have served your purpose well with the knowledge your spies have provided." Hayate said in the same voice as before.

Kaname chuckled again. "Well," he said cheerfully, even if his grin was a bit strained, "No one would suspect a stuffed animal after all, would they?"

"No. They would not. The ESP sends his condolences, but we cannot risk you releasing any sensitive information. Your death shall be quick."

"I suppose that should make me feel better?" the boy in the hospital bed asked.

"Yes."

His smile became slightly wider. "I'm glad that it's you they sent to end me. I'd rather it be a close friend then some no-name who will forget me as soon as the deed is done."

"Kaname..." he said slowly, beginning to show a touch of emotion in his voice.

"No, no. Don't worry - it's alright. You are one of my best friends wether you like to admit it or not. Even if it is for the ESP's cruel amusement that he sent you, I'm _glad_." He beckoned to the teen standing before him. Reluctantly, Hayate walked over to him, only to stiffen in surprise when he was grabbed into a hug by the hospitalized Kaname. "Good-bye, friend."

* * *

He closed the door behind him with a soft click, not looking back.

"I am done here." Hayate said. "We will go to the ESP now."

The ebony-haired teen was no longer wearing his mask and didn't even bother looking at his reluctant companion. Mikan trailed along behind him, saying nothing about the redness of her captor's eyes. She didn't chose to say a thing about how he hesitated before leaving the hospital, his steps stuttering slightly.

* * *

OoOoOoOoOo

* * *

"Ah, Mikan," The ESP greeted, a smile on his face. He looked like a little boy. Maybe ten or so, and his face completely innocent like a child's should be. He was not. Underneath this little show of his lay a monster, and Mikan was sure that he enjoyed being the monster.

The brunette gave a short little bow and avoided looking at him in the face. Hazel opals was currently trained on a black pen that was on the corner of his desk as Hayate glared from behind her.

"I heard from Hayate here that you have a little suprise for me; an Alice, that you happen to be very good at using, too." Mikan nodded her head. "Show me." he whispered chillingly, the order clear in his voice.

Mikan nodded again and took a few steps back.

_Mikan, don't do this._

_'Voice?'_ Mikan asked incredulously. _'What? Why? It's just a dragon. I don't see why not... and where have you been all this time?'_

There was an echoing sigh in her head before Voice continued with an exasperated tone at having to take care of her, _This is what I get for leaving you alone for more than an hour. _Mikan frowned slightly when the next words registered in her mind.

_Just obey me._

She snorted to herself. This person- machine- disembodied voice, whatever it was, was telling her what to do? She didn't even know who or what Voice was. SHe only knew that it it appeared and reappeared when it suited it.

_'No.'_ Mikan thought rebelliously. The Voice wasn't even there when she needed it, so why should she listen to it?

_'Dragon, I am creating a dragon,'_ Mikan mentally told herself, closing her eyes. Meanwhile the voice was protesting, giving her warnings and telling her to stop with its usual monotone, asexual, fortune-cookie-like words and tone. Her arms were raised to chest level, her hands open wide and her palms facing up. Crystal droplets of water began gathering above her hands and forming into the same mythological creature that she had made just hours before.

Mikan peeked through closed lids, the dragon almost fully formed now: the ESP was looking on with a cold glint in his eyes. A wide grin was on him face and suddenly Mikan began to lose concentration.

_'C'mon, Mikan'_ she chastised herself, _'Don't stop now. This has to be good!'_ But despite what she told herself, her hands began to shake a little with nerves, but her water was luckily not effected.

"Done," she whispered and opened her eyes fully that time. A long scaly body stretched out before her now and large wings were fully extended. As though with to a real creature, Mikan dropped one hand down and beckoned to it with the hand still in the air.

Almost in a blur, it coiled itself around her, almost making contact with her skin but not quite. It floated, suspended in the air and its eyes were looking directly at her. Mikan gave a small smile at her creation.

The sound of clapping made her come back to reality and her eyes darted over to the ESP who had stood up. The grin was still there, even if it was colder then teh water she had shaped.

"Excellent." he said. "Simply amazing. A perfect specimen made in just thirty seconds..." Had it really been so short? It had seemed much longer than that to Mikan. "Hayate," he called and the teen walked over to him.

_Now you've done it..._

"Yes sir?"

"I think that it is time that she starts training again, don't you think?"

_'Again?'_ Mikan wondered.

"You will start tomorrow." he continued quietly.

"Yes sir."

_I warned you,_ Voice whispered before fading away. It didn't reply to any of Mikan's frantic questions about what it meant.

* * *

OoOoOoOoOo

* * *

"Damn it!" a woman hissed, her hands slamming down onto the table she sat at. The room small room she was in was all dark except for the glow of the monitor in front of her. She stood up abruptly, her short hair swaying with the jerky movement, green eyes like chips of jade glaring down at the floor below her. Striking out in anger, the figure swept out an arm, pushing everything on the table but the computer and monitor off and crashing to the floor. The glow of the pink Alice stone that hung at her throat was dying down and was put out completely seconds later.

"Stupid girl." she said, cursing the situation. "She just _had_ to ignore me, didn't she?"

The sound of foot steps could be heard approaching and a man walked up to the woman. "Yuka, what happened? I heard a crash."

"Mikan." she said, exhaustion and stress seeping into her voice and blending with the emotions already there. "She showed the elementary school principal the Alice that she just discovered and she used it very well. He started training her again. It was going to be hard enough coaxing her to come with us when we break into the Academy next, but with her memory suppressed it would have been possible. At this rate? I don't know..."

She looked up to the man standing before her two pairs of serious eyes meeting with tension.

"When I had heard that old man Sakura let Mikan escape to the Academy I knew it was going to be bad. When our spies told me what she had become, it was even worse. And as much as I hate it, I was glad that she forgot, because then we had a chance to save her. But now the Academy will start twisting her mind again." she clenched her fists. "Shiki, we need to get to the Academy as soon as we can- I'm not going to let my daughter be as corrupted as they made me."

* * *

OoOoOoOoOo

* * *

"Hayate-san, what exactly are you going to be teaching me?"

They standing on the outskirts of the Eastern forest where, apparently, all of the training fields were located. Mikan was rather interested to see what the training fields looked like because according to the sparse information given to her by her captor, they were all numbered 1-20. None were the same and each were made to help train in different things. Hayate said that they would start at number one, and move their way up. Mikan guessed that the higher the number the better she was at whatever it was that she was going to be taught... or maybe it was just that he wanted to go in that order. Whatever.

Her only reply was a grunt and she thought that maybe she hadn't been heard after all.

"Hayate-san?" she tried again, "What-?"

"Alice and physical training" he replied in a clipped tone.

"Oh," Mikan said in a small voice. "What does that-"

He spun on her, obsidian orbs blazing with irritation and barley concealed anger. "I am going to teach you how to fight, Mikan." he nearly hissed. "You are going to learn to kill and I am going to train you in everything; Alice manipulation, weapons, stealth, speed, stamina, strength and more. Today we will start with Alice training and then move on to hand to hand combat and then to working on that strength of yours which I am sure will be rather pathetic."

Mikan swallowed and gave a hasty nod.

"Follow." he ordered shortly.

* * *

Rocks.

Big ones, at that - boulders, Mikan decided - which were spread all around the uneven grassy floor of training ground one. The place happened to be spacious and the brunette vaguely wondered how big the other 19 grounds were and how they actually fit on the Academy grounds. Cutting straight through the extremely large clearing was a 15-foot-wide river but for some reason there was no bridge for crossing it. Mikan wasn't sure that she wanted to know just how she was going to get to the other side of it - knowing Hayate (or at least what she had gathered from being in his company these past few weeks) it would not be fun. Hopefully she wouldn't have to figure out, even if she doubted the wishful thinking would come true.

Mikan shifted where she stood and fidgeted nervously. Standing about a yard in front of her, Hayate whipped his hand out to the left and the younger teen jumped at the sudden movement.

"Use your Alice to make something again and destroy that." he said monotonously.

Hazel eyes drifted over to where he was pointing and Mikan let out an squeek of surprise. Sitting a good thirty yards away from where she now stood sat a large boulder that was probably 10 feet tall and even wider than that.

"But I don't know how-" Mikan began to protest.

"Just try."

"Yes, but-"

"_Now_."

"Yes, sir." she whispered, defeated.

Walking until she was only five yards away from the large piece of granite, she held both arms up, as she had done when demonstrating for the ESP, with both palm facing the boulder this time. Hayate stood a little ways away, obsidian eyes calculating.

A deep breath.

Mikan, same as last time, used imagery to make her Alice work and pictured a large, glowing blue orb of water shooting towards the boulder at top speed and shattering it to pieces but unlike the first time it wasn't just water. Like the last two times, water droplets quickly began to form in the air and come together to make a perfect sphere about a meter in diameter, but unlike before, taking a leap of faith and sincerely hoping that it would work, she pictured the orb turning to ice, and slowly the meter wide sphere hardened. Mikan thought she heard a small gasp of surprise, but didn't turn to check.

_'C'mon, Mikan.'_ she encouraged herself mentally. _'just a little more, aaaaannnnd-!'_

"HA!" she exclaimed, shooting the icy orb at the boulder at speeds that far exceeded anything that Hayate could have hoped for. One second it was floating a few inches away from he outstretched fingers and the next it had crashed into the large piece of granite with an large and resounding _CRACK! _The moment it embedded itself into the boulder, it expanded and exploded outwards, shards of granite and ice flying everywhere, and Mikan brought up her arms as a meager defense against the blade-like projectiles. When the entourage of ice mixed with granite had stopped, she uncovered her eyes to see a almost completely demolished boulder.

A grin found its way onto her face for reasons unknown to herself. She had just destroyed a piece of rock almost twice as tall as she was and three times as wide. She liked it, this feeling. It was one of power. Mikan decided she wanted more of it, and turned to her new teacher.

Hayate had a look of surprise on his face which he completely covered up when he noticed he was being watched. He gave a slight nod of approval and Mikan returned it along with a smirk and, for the first time since she could remember, feeling no fear towards the raven haired teen.

"So," she asked airily, "What's next?"

**And... done! well, as always, review and tell me what you think! The next chapter I am hoping to have done and Beta'd by 6/19/2010 or maybe even the 18th.**

**REVIEW!**

**_AvengedRomantic's (beta's) Note: This would have been updated sooner, but once again... I erm... forgot, so yeah. Don't really shoot me too painfully, okay? And review for Ichi-chan, because she refrained from shooting me. So yes. Assume this in the future- late update= lazy beta's fault_**


	15. Chapter 15

**Okay: I fail, I know... totally not when I said I would update... sorry! I sent this to my beta a while ago but I have yet to get it back so I will post this for now until the beta'd version arrives ^^**

**Oh yeah! And funny thing here, I wasn't actually thinking of the Hayate in GA when I wrote _my_ Hayate. I forgot that he even existed! So whoever thinks that they are the same person I suggest you wipe that idea from your mind. This guy is an OC, kay? Sorry for the confusion! X |**

**Well, here's the chapter!**

**Disclaimer: Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm... i don't own.**

**Normal POV**

Hayate watched her from afar as she manipulated the water in the river to make a large, intricately detailed arched bridge before turning it into ice and walking across it now on the other side of the bank - the same side the the ebony-haired teen stood - before shooting a well placed kick at the base of it and causing the entire structure to crack and shatter to pieces. She snickered at the destruction before walking over to her stoic teacher.

"So," she simpered, looking pleased with herself, "how'd I do, sensei?"

"Hn."

It had been three days since the training had started and Mikan's old personality had begun to reemerge It was truly amazing just how bold she had gotten in such a short time - and how good. (The teen suspected that it was just muscle memory, or that the deep recesses of her brain never truly forgot that explained her rapid progression) Hayate had also begun to train her in the other Alice's she never knew she had: earth, fire, and, like his very own alice, air. Mikan hadn't spoken to her voice since.

The hazel-eyed brunet before him snickered again and jogged over to where he stood a few yards away.

"Well...?" she asked, letting the question hang in the air.

Hayate groaned internally before sending Mikan a look of disdain and giving a simple, "Satisfactory," as a reply.

"'_S__atisfactory'_", Mikan mocked, mouthing the words silently to herself and giving a lame imitation of his expression when the torture specialist turned his back from her. "Stupid..." she muttered.

A barley audible _whoosh_ was heard and next thing she knew Mikan was sprawled twenty feet away from where she previously stood, all the way on the opposite side of the river she had just crossed. She had had almost no reaction time, and the shot had come out of nowhere. The wind having been promptly knocked out of her and a sizable Mikan-shaped indent in the ground, the Alice-in-training groaned in pain as she aqeezed her eyes shut, willing the pain to go away.

Hayate took a running jump and flew over the river in one bound before landing directly in front of Mikan, casting a shadow over the already bruising girl, gasps of breath coming from her and hot blood running down the side of her face.

"That," a voice hissed above her, "is called punishment. What I just used on you was a level 2 compact disc of air - nearly impossible to hear, even harder to see. Insult me again and it will be worse. I don't care if you are the ESP's prized possession: I outrank you and am superior in knowledge and skills."

Mikan, who had opened her eyes by now, shrank away from Hayate as best as she could, back down on the ground and wincing at the glare being directed at her.

"Am I clear?" her teacher asked.

"Ngh..." Mikan groaned in pain, having reverted back to her shy, uncertain self before giving a shaky but polite, "Yes, sensei."

"Good." he stated. Mikan sincerely doubted that he meant it. "We will call it a day."

He reached down a hand to help her up, never changing his expression. Mikan grabbed it hesitantly.

He had been off lately, Mikan thought. He was normally aggressive and apathetic, but recently, ever since that hospital visit he had become quicker to lash out at his hazel-eyed captive and Mikan didn't think that it was just because of the training. Mikan dismissed the thoughts.

A strong arm pulled her up and Mikan winced as pain shot through her shoulder and lower back. And by _god_ the entire right side of her face _hurt _like hell! She had to blink repeatedly to keep the blood from getting into her eye. It was going to be terrible in the morning...

"Thanks," she whispered halfheartedly, not making eye contact and releasing her hold on his hand-

"Hn."

-only he didn't let go.

Mikan tried to pry her hand away again. Her hand didn't budge. Huh.

Perplexed, she asked, "Umm, Hayate-sensei, can you let go-"

He reached out to her cheek with his unoccupied right hand, calloused fingers skimming feather-light touch across the bloodied skin there. Displeasure and annoyance showed as his lips turned downward and he turned Mikan's face to get a better look at the right half of her head.

"Shit," he murmured.

_'Does it really look that bad?'_ she wondered as he leaned in to closer inspect the damage.

Actually, Mikan realized, he was so close that she could see the flecks of cobalt blue in his obsidian eyes. Mikan's cheeks reddened slightly at the close contact and she suppressed the urge to jerk away. That would not end well...

Then he released her.

"Go to the infirmary," he ordered blandly, any previous emotion gone as his face smoothed back to its usual cruel mask. He smirked cruelly. "The ESP wouldn't want you to have a permanent scar on your pretty face. Try not to be seen but if you are, your name is Himitsu. If anyone asks what happened? Make something up."

Mikan nodded obediently and began painfully making her way to the hospital wing.

* * *

Misaki was depressed.

She seemed to be the only one to remember Mikan and now... now Kaname was dead... The teen furiously wiped away the tears that had been gathering in her eyes. Kaname would not have wanted her to cry over him.

She continued walking around aimlessly, and eventually found herself at the front gates of Gakuen Alice. The steelwork loomed over head in all of its metal glory. It was beautiful. It was containing. Misaki frowned, as she remembered just how trapped she was in this place. She wanted to go home.

"We need to intercept _now_, Shiki!" a feminine voice hissed, suddenly, away from where Misaki could see.

_'What the...?'_

"Look, Yuka, I know that, but we have to plan this out. Do you know the guard count? Where the camera's are? Anything that is concrete about the security here?" a man replied.

The red-head began following the sound of the two, obviously older, voices, trying to keep her breathing soft.

"I-!" the woman began to protest. "Fine. But we have to be quick about this."

Misaki was there now. Two adults hidden in the large, overgrown bushes that lined the Academy walls. Both of their back were turned to her so she couldn't see any faces, but she did know that the woman was a short haired brunet that was about 5'7'' and the man beside her had light brown locks and was about 5'11'' if not 6 foot. The woman wore army print cargo pants and black boots that came to mid-calf with a formfitting black t-shirt and gloves with the fingers cut off. Her counterpart was dressed in generally the same cloths, except for the black gloves, opting to wear nothing on his hands at all. Trying her best to make no noise, the doppelganger Alice crept into the bushes until she was just six feet away from them, hiding amongst the green leaves.

"I will _not_ let Mikan get ruined any further by that _bastard_ of a principal," the newly identified 'Yuka' spat.

Misaki hissed in a breath at the name mentioned. So she was real! But then who were these people...?

"I'll call up the AAO and get them to send in some operatives to do some scouting for us." 'Shiki' suggested.

Yuka was about to reply when a loud gasp was heard right behind them. The two whipped around to find the source of the sound and Misaki froze in fear.

_'Oh, Kami, oh Kami!'_ she panicked internally. _'These people are the AAO!'_

Faster then she could see, Shiki vanished and promptly appeared right behind her. Quickly and efficiently, he swept her feet out from under her and Misaki found herself face down on the dirt floor and her arms roughly pinned behind her.

Yuka walked up to her, swatting away any branches in her way. She stood over Misaki, forbidding and strong. The young Alice instantly regretted her curiosity as jade eyes glared down at her.

"Well," Yuka mused, "it looks like you won't have to call them after all, Shiki. We have all of the information that we will need," she nudged their new prisoner with a booted foot, "right here."

* * *

Mikan stumbled along her way to the hospital panting with exhaust and cursing her luck. She wiped away the blood in her eyes for the umpteenth time that day before sighing in relief when she came into view of the hospital.

"Almost there, Mikan," she told herself, "almost-_umph_!"

She was but fifteen feet away from the door when she walked into a solid wall of muscle and found herself on her butt.

"Oh, man. I'm sorry, kid. Are you okay-? Oh my god you're bleeding!" a male voice exclaimed above a dazed Mikan. She hissed in a breath. The fall had jarred her bones and she hurt all over.

"Here," he said, lifting her up by the arms. "Ah, jeeze..." he muttered exasperatedly, mussing his midnight blue hair. "Way to go Tsubasa... go and knock down an injured kid like an idiot!"

He paused for a moment before a look of panic washed over his face. "Wait. _I_ didn't do that right?"

Mikan gave him a deadpan look.

"Right..." he breathed, looking down.

"It's fine," Mikan ground out, forcing a smile onto her face, "Don't worry abou- _eek!_" she shrieked as she was suddenly lifted off the ground.

"What the hell are you doing?" Mikan snarled, reverting back to her old personality temporarily and blinking rapidly to keep the blood from getting into her eye. "Put me down!"

"Look, I'm just trying to- ack! Hey! What the- ow!" Tsubasa went wide eyed as the injured teen he was carrying started wiggling around in his arms and hitting him repeatedly. "Look- ouch! -just stop - argh! - it already! I'm trying to help!"

Suddenly the flurry of fists stopped and Tsubasa blinked at the confused look on the brunets face.

"You... you're being... nice to me?" she asked in wonder.

Worry suddenly began to well up inside of the shadow master at the disbelief in the younger girls voice. Why did she sound so surprised that someone was being nice to her?

"Well, yeah, kid." he answered with a concerned smile. "Why is that so surprising to you?"

The automatic door slid open in front of them as Mikan's blue-eyed savior carried her in.

"I... no one has ever done that for me before..." she admitted, looking down. Her eyebrows were pulled together in contemplation as she pondered the recent events.

"Hello Tsubasa-kun! Do you need something- oh!" a friendly nurse in her 20's exclaimed when she saw them. She ran out from behind the front desk she had been working at, golden blond curls bouncing behind her and soft brown eyes going wide as she went. "Oh, dear what happened to you?" she asked Mikan with concern.

She just stared up in bewilderment at the nurse and her kindness and Tsubasa felt yet another pang of sympathy for this girl he had just met. What kind of life did she have for her to react so strangely to a show of kindness or worry on her behalf?

"I found her on my way in here. I was coming to... to uh, pick up Kaname's stuff," Tsubasa admitted with a pained chuckle at the mention of his newly deceased best friend. "I, err, knocked her over."

The blond nurses previous look of sympathy on the Shadow master's behalf turned angry as she smacked him on the head. "Baka." she said. She then turned to Mikan with a smile. "We're gonna get you all fixed up sweety. Please tell me wheat happened."

She turned to Tsubasa with a look of disdain. He grinned sheepishly. "Carry her to room 7." she ordered.

* * *

"That must have been some nasty fall, Hitomi-chan," the nurse, Utau-san, Mikan now knew, said. As soon as the worst of the damage had been taken care of They introduced themselves, Mikan using her false name of course, as Utau explained Tsubasa and hers connection. It turned out that the blue haired boy with the weird star tattoo under his eye and Nurse Utau knew each other because he always came to visit his best friend in the hospital.

She was finishing up the last of the stitches on Hitomi/Mikan's head and she wiped the rest of her face clean with a wet cloth. Mikan winced at the contact and gave Utau a tight smile.

"Defiantly." she agreed.

"Well, you both strained at badly bruised your back and you shoulder is very badly bruised as well. As for you're face, you need to come in in a week or two to get the stitches removed at put some ice on it when you get back to your dorm. Any other little scrapes should be healed in the next few day or so but those three, she gestured to Mikan's back shoulder and head, "are going to hurt for a while." she turned to the door at slid it open, pausing to look over her shoulder and say,"If you need anything I will be at the front desk, okay?" before sliding the door shut.

Mikan looked around the room in silence, feeling somewhat awkward under Tsubasa's sapphire gaze. He was sitting in a chair in the far corner of the room away from the table Mikan sat on in the examination room.

"I think I'll be going now," Mikan said quietly, as she hopped off of the examination table. She ran to the door and began sliding it open.

"So what _really_ happened?"

Mikan stopped at Tsubasa's voice, stiffening and going on defense.

"What do you mean?" Mikan asked, feigning curiosity.

Tsubasa snorted. "Do you seriously expect me to believe that you injured yourself that badly _tripping_?"

Mikan didn't respond for a long moment.

"... Do you know about Hayate Kishimoto?" Mikan asked suddenly.

"I don't." Tsubasa admitted, wondering where she was going with this.

A sad smile found its way on Mikans lips and she laughed softly. "Be glad for that then. You are more lucky then you will ever know."

Tsubasa decided to reign in his curiosity and question her no further. It would only be cruel to, when she had such a pained expression on her face. After another silence they both stood up and left the examination room together. Standing outside of the hospital where they had first met not long ago, on the sidewalk about fifteen feet away from the sliding doors of the hospital, Tsubasa smiled widely at Mikan, though he didn't know that was her name (she had never told him or Utau) and she gave a smile of her own in return.

"Well," he said, grin still on his face, "I guess it was nice meeting you, kid. See ya later!" He reached over and ruffled her hair before turning away.

Hazel eyes watched the retreating back and on a spur of the moment decision she called out, "Mikan! My name isn't _kid _and it's not Hitomi either: it's Mikan."

Tsubasa went stiff, sapphire eyes widening and feeling as if an electric shock had just shot through him before whipping around frantically to find the brunet, mind reeling.

But when he looked back, he saw nothing but air.

* * *

Soft brown eyes like pools of melted chocolate and flat amethyst watched the exchange from the safety of the hospital. Utau looked up to Subaru with a curious expression.

"Will you let her get away with it, sensei?" she asked hopefully.

Doctor Imai Subaru, older brother of Hotaru Imai and healing Alice genius glanced down at her from beneath his glasses and gave a short nod.

Utau sighed in relief and gave her superior a smile. "That girl has been through a lot recently - I still remember when she first came to the academy: lost, lonely, and beneath all of the 'happiness' so severely angry. But she really was a sweet kid. Still is actually..."

Subaru nodded once again. "I think that she deserves at least this one moment of happiness. I wouldn't inform the higher-ups of this."

The blond hummed in agreement. "Too bad you couldn't heal her though, ne sensei? Stupid Elementary school principal..."

"Indeed."

Utau sighed deeply and slumped. "Sometimes I really hate being one of the insiders for the academy. Acting as eyes and ears just isn't fun when you have to rat out friends. Even if they don't remember you."

"Would you rather someone else take you place in the hospital?" Subaru asked challengingly, raising his eyebrows slightly.

"Not at all." She smiled.

**Ooooooookaaaaay... yeah. That is it for now! Sorry for the wait ^^''**

**REVIEW!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Okay! Here is the next chapter of And so it Shattered! Thanks for reading!**

**My Beta is on break for now and will be back August. Until then, sorry for all mistakes!**

**I have a fanfict recommendation for you all if you are interested: Brokenfacades _Five Words. _I happen to think it is an excellent fict so far and I think you all would enjoy! It is brand new, but she promises to update whenever possible and I think that she will prove herself to be a great author. For anyone who wants to check this out, a link to her profile and story are at the top of my my profile.**** It is a NatsumexMikan fict under Drama/Romance category. Go check it out! :D**

**Normal POV**

Misaki shivered where she sat in the cold damp cell she had been put in. She was _such_ and idiot! How could she get caught by the AAO of all people? The doppelganger Alice wondered what they would do when they were done with her.

The door to her cell creaked open just then and the man and the woman who had captured her, Shiki and Yuka, walked in.

Misaki looked at them defiantly, wishing to fight back but knowing it was impossible.

"Where am I?" she asked glaring at them.

"An underground base." Shiki replied blandly. "But none of that really matters: tell us what we need to know."

"And what would that be?"

This time Yuka spoke, "How many cameras are there? Guards? When to they switch shifts? Are there any spots that they _don't_ cover?"

Misaki laughed. "And I would tell you that _why_? You can't make me do a thing."

Yuka grinned evilly and leaned in to her newest captive.

"Would you _really_ like to test that theory?"

* * *

**2 Days later...**

Mikan stared blankly at the TV screen in front of her it was the middle of the day and though training started in two hours, she was already ready.

"_'But Jack! you can't leave me!'_ the heroine of the story cried pathetically. _'I love you!' 'I'm sorry Jane,'_ the male replied. _'But...another has captured my heart.' 'Noooo!' _Sappy music played in the background."

Mikan promptly turned off the TV, wondering what was wrong with the people who made that show up and who would actually watch the stuff.

"Morons would," she supplied aloud with a slight frown.

Mikan sighed and got up off the couch she was sitting on wincing slightly as it jared the bruises she had gotten two days ago. The minor ones were yellows and light browns now, soon to be gone but her shoulder and face were an array of colors from blue to purple. The cut on her head didn't hurt unless she moved her face, so Mikan worked hard to show no expression. So far she succeeded.

"Mikan." a voice said sharply from behind her, Mikan jerked in surprise, hissing when the movement jostled and because the action caused her to grimace in pain, thus making her face hurt.

"Yes?"she asked tightly turning to look at Hayate. She had gotten better at sensing people, but he could still sneak up on her as easily as he always had.

"We are leaving early today. You are to meet someone important." he said stoically before pausing. "How if your face?" he asked softly with... was that guilt?

"I-it's fine." Mikan stuttered, caught off guard. "i will need to go back to the hospital though to get the stitches removed in a week or so."

"I see..." he murmured. "Well let's go." he placed the mask that i didn't notice him carrying in his hand on his face and the mysterious, cruel features of his mask met her eyes. "Now."

"Coming."

* * *

Luna Koizumi sighed. She was waiting at training ground number 3, it's flat terrain boring and leaving her nothing to do until the people she was supposed to meet here arrived. And that was when she sensed them. Looking around where she stood, she saw two figures emerge from the trees walking towards at a leisurely pace. One was masked and the other was not, with mildly curious hazel eyes and long brunet hair. There was also a nasty bruise on the side of her face and a deep, stitched up cut.

They reached her about a twenty seconds later.

"Luna Koizumi," the masked teen said, Luna gave a sharp and attentive "Yes sir," before he continued, "This is Mikan Sakura, my current charge. I will be leaving on a mission tonight and will not be back until a week from now. Until then you will train her. The ESP assures me that you are up to this, so do not disappoint me."

"Of course not sir."

"Good. I will leave now to get prepared for tonight. Goodbye."

The two girls watched him walk away before staring at each other for a moment. Then Mikan bowed.

"As Hayate-sensei introduced, i am Mikan Sakura. It's a pleasure to meet you, Luna-sensei."

"Likewise," Luna agreed with amusement. "But enough with the bowing, and Luna is fine."

Mikan nodded and smiled lightly as it didn't hurt _that_ badly and it struck a cord with the strawberry blonde.

Luna blinked several times.

"Ah," she said slowly with a smile of her own. "Let's get started, kay?"

"Yes, Luna."

"First off I want ten laps around the training ground. No slacking! After that we are going to..."

* * *

Tsubasa was troubled - he had been for three days now. That girl was Mikan! And now he was going crazy trying to find her! How could he _not be?_ And what was worse, Misaki was apparently sick right now and wasn't allowed any visitors in the hospital, because she was "very contagious and the chances of contracting the virus she had was very high."

_'Ah, man... What am i gonna do Kaname?'_ he asked, staring up at the sky, and desperately wishing for the advice of his best friend.

He was paying so little attention that he ran into someone. He was doing that a lot lately, wasn't he?

"Watch out where you're going!" a familiar voice snapped.

Tsubasa blinked and realized that who he had run into was Natsume Hyuuga.

"Shadow?" the fire-caster asked after a moment.

"Yeah! Hey kid! What's up?" Tsubasa asked with a grin.

Ignoring that kid comment, Natsume replied, "Nothing much. Just... nothing."

Tsubasa blinked at this before deciding something.

"Hey," he said sheepishly, sapphire eyes glancing around nervously, "This is kinda a long-shot, but you wouldn't happen to know a girl named Mikan Sakura, would you?"

Tsubasa looked up to meet crimson eyes.

Natsume's eyes were wide and he had gone stiff his mouth gaping.

"You alright...?" the shadow master asked concerned.

"Have you seen her?"it was said in a low whisper and Tsubasa could barley make out his words but knew what they were all the same.

"You..." his breath came out in a rush and Tsubasa suddenly felt like sitting down.

"_We need to talk._" they both said at the exact same time.

**Sorry for the short chapter! ^_^''**

**Well, thanks for reading! And please review!**


	17. Chapter 17

**Hmm... I feel REALLY dumb right now. You know that fanfict recommendation I made? _Five Words_? You know how I said I would put up a link and all? i forgot. But it's up now! So... yeah. _Now_ you can go check it out! It's a great fanfict! And leave the girl a review! She's new ^^**

**Tsubasa POV**

"_We need to talk,_" I said, coincidentally at the same time as Natsume, and I tried my hardest to make myself appear calm about it all.

I did not mean that I wasn't spazzing out _inside_ though.

Because I was.

Freaking.

Out.

"Let's go to my room," I told him. "You're in the DA - I bet your dorm is bugged."

"I de-bugged it." he replied with a scowl.

I looked at him.

"You don't think I got them all?" he asked challengingly.

"Honestly? No."

"Tch."

I pulled my room key out of my pocket and jingled it in front of him.

"Well, let's go." I said, walking towards the dorms.

And he followed.

* * *

I sat on my bed, shoes off and on my back, eating an apple while Natsume was sprawled lazily across in a chair in the middle of my bedroom, looking around with boredom. He smirked.

"You're room sucks, Shadow," he drawled with a small lifting of his head.

I snorted and set the apple down. "Well not _all of us_ are teachers pets and special stars. Get over it."

"Hn." was his only reply.

"Look, let's just cut to the point of why you're even here: Mikan."

The lazy demeanor changed instantly as the teen sat up straight and his eyes sharpened before saying, "Tell me everything you now about her."

And so I did, and by the end of it, Natsume looked ready to kill.

"This Hayate guy..." I said finally, sitting up to look him in the eye. "He sounds like really bad news."

"He _is!_" Natsume snarled. I would later swear that the temperature went up a few degrees in those last few seconds. "He caught her in the first place. He imprisoned her, and now that _bastard_ has been going through and erasing every memory in the Academy of her. He even got to Luna and now I think I am the only student left who knows the truth. I don't know about the teachers."

"Why you?" I asked with a frown.

"Punishment, I'd bet."

There was a silence after that that wasn't broken until I spoke up about three minutes later.

"So how is it that I know this girl then?"

He looked down before answering, "You were her favorite sempai - kinda like a big brother actually, but not." He looked back up at me with annoyed crimson eyes. "Personally I think you're just a pedophile."

"Hey!" I shouted indignantly, but he ignored and continued on.

"You were the one who brought her to the Special class on her first day after saving her from some jerks and ever since the you've been stuck together like glue or something. You and that tomboy-"

"Misaki."

"Whatever. You two were always with her. And you always called her squirt."

"Well how come Misaki remembered her? She had a little trouble at first, but..."

"She has the doppelganger Alice, right?" I nodded. "Well then she probably had some clones out at the time her memory was erased. Her Alice creates perfect clones of herself including her memory. Since she did, the memories of the clone would have been intact and when she dispelled them, the memories would go back to her. Because of the effects of the memory Alice, it was probably buried and waiting for a reminder. Luna was that reminder."

"Huh." I muttered with a sigh. I took off my hat and ran my fingers through my hair, contemplating. "Too bad Misaki is sick. She would love to hear this... I'd tell her but no visitors..."

I stopped when I saw Natsume's wide-eyed look.

"What?"

"Shadow," he said carefully. His voice and face reminded me about how one would approach a wild animal: careful and tentative. Dread filled me. "Misaki is not sick. She was kidnapped by - we think - the AAO. It was reported two days ago. Saying she's sick was a cover up. I thought you knew."

My breath caught and I began gripping my favorite hat tightly in my fists. I didn't stop even when I felt the fabric begin to give away; a slight tear appeared in the hat.

"Shadow?" he asked, standing up, bloody red eyes filled with concern that he would later deny was ever there.

"T-tell me you're lying," I said in a low voice.

He just looked at me without expression.

"Dammit!" I yelled angrily, throwing the hat to the floor and standing. "Dammit, dammit, _dammit!_"

"Look, just calm down. We-"

"_Calm down?_ What are you crazy? Misaki was taken by a bunch of lunatics hellbent on destroying the Academy and you want me to be calm? When I was never even told that she was gone? Hell no!" I ranted scathingly pacing back and forth continuously."You apparently are close to this Mikan chick, and you haven't been calm about it. I have been hearing about your training sessions with Persona - it's all over the school that you have been working like mad but no one knew why until now: it's because of the girl! Do you call that calm? _Hell no_."

Ignoring the jab, Natsume sneered, "If you would listen, then you would know that there was a retrieval mission being commissioned to head out in a few days. We have some leads on where she is being held. Tsubasa Andou, would you be willing to rejoin the Dangerous Abilities class temporarily to go on this retrieval mission four days from now?"

I nodded quickly. "Of course."

"Good. Now let's bet back to Mikan," he said lazily, sitting back down on the chair. "From what you told me, she appears to like you still. She might make contact again. If she does the I need you to..."

* * *

**Normal POV**

Luna watched boredly as Mikan aimed a continuous stream of punches, kicks, and palm strikes at a think wooden post on the outskirts of the training field that had the shape of a person carved into it. Mikan was startlingly good already for having just been taught the moves.

"Enough!" the soul sucker called finally. It was somewhere around five o'clock now and Luna was ready to call it a day.

Her temporary student dropped to the grassy floor with a sigh. She was slightly red in the face and sweaty all over.

"Not bad," Luna said lightly. _'Dang this girl is good!'_ she thought, contradicting her outward statement. "... for a newbie at least."

The brunet sighed in annoyance and gave her teacher a look of disdain. For the second time that day, a wave of nostalgia hit the strawberry blond at her expression.

"You..." She said slowly. Mikan looked up at her in confusion. "Remind me of someone." Luna grinned. "I think I like you, Sakura."

She held out her hand to the brunet and she took it with out qualms or hesitance. When she stood up, she gave Luna another one of those familiar smiles and said, "Call me Mikan."

"Alright then, Mikan. Since we are done for the day, how would you like to go throw something different on and go with me to Central Town? They have the best little cafe over there called _La Crépuscule_. We should get something to eat, ne?"

"Yeah," Mikan agreed easily. "That'd be alright."

**Okay! So I will stop there for now ^^**

**Oh! And wish me luck: I have dance try-outs tomorrow (8/7/2010) X3**

**Review!**


	18. Chapter 18

**So School has started and I hate it with a passion. Hurray for learning! *note sarcasm* ^_^**

**Another sucky thing about the torture chambers- *clears throat* I mean _learning_ facilities, is that It is going to take up a lot of time and while I will try to update at least one of my stories every week that may not happen. Very sorry! try not to kill me :O**

**And on with the show...**

**Disclaimer: I don't own. I have never owned. I never _will_ own. :D**

**Normal POV**

Mikan was walking back from her little cafe called _La Crépuscule_. She decided that she really liked that place. Luna and Mikan had gotten some nice food, but her favorite part of it all was the little fruit tarts that they had had for dessert. A dopey grin spread across her face at the memory of the sweet little treat and she looked down at the plain plastic bag clutched in her hand, not for the first time that night, and to the plastic box that had a dozen more of the tarts in them. Luna's face when she had bought that many had been priceless, the strawberry blonde muttering,"little pig," with a wry grin on her face.

She was _so_ going to eat another one when she got home. Maybe two.

Mikan continued on walking towards her room happily, the excitement of making her first real friend and getting some dang good food overriding any of the usual morbid thoughts that ran through her mind.

"Oujou-sama...?" she heard a voice murmur, but dismissed it easily. It's not like they were talking to her after all.

She didn't think that anything could get her down-!

"Mikan?" she ignored them and kept walking. "Mikan, wait!" A hand grabbed her shoulder and stopped her from going any further.

-or maybe not.

Turning around with a small scowl on her otherwise blank face she saw a tall figure with ebony hair wearing all black save a white mask that covered his eyes. Various Alice control devices covered his hands and ears. Mikan blinked.

"Do I know you?" she asked crisply, steel lacing her voice.

"..."

"What are you, stupid?"

"You..." the man said slowly, disbelief Mikan didn't think he meant to show in his voice. "Don't remember me, do you?"

Mikan just stared at him.

"Uh, no."

There was a long pause after that during which Mikan shifted uncomfortably and fingered the plastic between her fingers.

Finally, the man spoke, "Mikan it-"

"Oh, hey Mikan!" a voice called out cheerily. She turned around and saw emerald eyes and breather out a sigh of relief. This dude was kinda creepy.

"Luna!" the brunet exclaimed, taking her new friends arrival as an excuse to move away from the masked figure. "Hi. I thought that you were going to the school for that meeting you were talking about...?"

The other girl shrugged. "I was, but it got canceled who knew. But - hey! _Persona,_" Luna said in a low voice, losing all friendliness when she saw the man. "What are you here for?"

Clearing his throat, the DA teacher shook his head. "Just leaving, Koizumi." And with that, he walked away, quickly disappearing in the dark.

"Ugh." Luna sighed when he left, "He's such a... a... I don't know the proper word for him, actually. So what was he doing here anyways?"

Mikan shrugged and said, "I dunno. He said he knew me, but I've never seen him before." _'Let's not add in the fact that it may be because I have a memory gap for the first... fifteen years of my life.'_

"Oh. Well, stay away from him. Both him and his favorite Natsume Hyuuga - red eyes, black hair. Can't miss him. - are total jerks."

Little known fact #1: The only reason why Persona and Luna became friends in the first place was Mikan. Before her they loathed each other. Persona thought Luna bratty and Luna thought Persona a creepy sadist.

Of course Mikan didn't know that though and just nodded as she took in the information.

"Okay then."

Luna smiled and stood beside Mikan as she tarted to walk to her room once more.

"So," she said, "Wanna go get something after practice tomorrow as well? Today was fun. I think that we will become really great friends, you know?"

Mikan smiled. "Yeah. That would be fun."

Luna nodded and then there was silence.

When she got to a certain group of trees planted near the high school division, Mikan stopped. It was here that Hayate had told her to get rid of anyone that she was with. Apparently where she lived was supposed to be a secret - an odd conclusion but she learned not to question what he told her.

"Uh, Luna?"

"Hm?" she replied, looking up from the little pink flower in the grass beside her.

"Sorry, but I need you to eave from here. Secret stuff, you know?"

Luna looked slightly annoyed but nodded anyways.

"I get it, I get it." She sighed. "After all, you're supposed to be some super special agent and so of _course_ your living quarters would be kept secret."

Mikan felt a small amount of guilt creep into her, but kept a blank face.

Luna turned on her heel and began walking away, lifting up one arm as she went in a wave.

"See you later Mikan! Have fun with your tarts!" she laughed good naturedly and Mikan watched as her form became smaller and smaller before disappearing.

Mikan walked a couple hundred feet more before stopping at a seemingly random tree stuck apart in the middle of the campus. She placed a hand on the thin trunk and murmured a few words before a once invisible door. Swinging it open to reveal a set of stairs, she climbed down them, walking through the maze off halls and to the tall white door that led to her room.

Once inside she shoved her bag of treats into the large fridge in the kitchen, but not before taking one of them out and taking a large bite from it.

"So yummy!" she mumbled happily and finished it in a few bites.

She opened the fridge door again.

Yup. She was defiantly having a second one.

* * *

Green eyes watched she climbed through the door and Yuka dashed out from her hiding place when she disappeared, determined to follow her daughter to wherever she was going, only for the door to disappear. She cursed.

She then put her hand where Mikan placed hers and tried out a few passwords. Of course it didn't work.

"Damn it!" she cursed again.

_Shiki_, she told her partner through telekinesis, _I couldn't get in. We need to get that girl to talk, but I don't want to hurt her. Since voluntary won't work, and simple threats are just as useless, we need to brew up a truth serum. Go get Masashi and tell his I want one by the time I get back._

A simple "yes," was her only reply before she teleported out of the academy walls and to the outside of it. She ran to the hideout on foot.

**So we will stop there. Sorry this was so short! I haven't really had time to write because of school and I thought that something was better than nothing. I'll try to write more next time! How would everyone like a 2k chapter? ^^**

**Review!**


	19. Chapter 19

**... I decided to do the 2,000+ words next chapter because I didn't have enough time to write it all and I wanted to do a post this week ;D**

**Not BETA'd yet, but it will be soon. If you want the cleaned up version it will be up in a couple of days!**

**Ugh. I rewrote this chapter so many times cause I just couldn't figure out how I wanted to say everything and it _still_ isn't quite how I wanted it. oh well!**

**I hope you all enjoy!**

One would think that an action as simple as walking through the forest with nothing to do would go on without incident and that when that person was done wandering would simple go back home and do whatever else they were going to do. It _was_ how most peoples walked ended, actually.

But Mikan never was normal.

And her walk defiantly didn't end without incident.

"Mikan Sakura, I presume?"

Hazel eyes blinked slowly before flickering up to see a slightly taller woman who would be her carbon copy if Mikan was older and had short hair. She had a small smile on her face.

"You are correct. And you are...?"

"My name is Azumi Yuka, Mikan. I am your mother."

* * *

**Yuka POV**

The morning light was streaming through the tree branches in patches and the Northern Forest looked so achingly familiar that I mad to manually cut myself off from remembering the past. It would do me no good.

She just stared at me blankly before I saw her lips twitch upward and her body shake minutely.

Was she... laughing?

"Pft-!" My daughter snickered before slapping a hand over her lips to stop her giggles by force.

"Is something that I said funny?" I asked, annoyance coursing through me.

This was a serious matter and probably the best chance I had to take her back to the AAO with me. It was not time to be joking around.

"I know, I know," Mikan said simply. She wasn't smiling anymore. "The AAO is never something to joke about, _'Mother'_."

Blinking in surprise I studied her before realizing what had happened.

"I see... you have the Stealing Alice don't you? It's how you got the Mind reading Alice and you also have the copy, erase, and insertion Alice I'm guessing?"

Her blank look told me she had no idea what I was talking about at the end. Good. I could use that to my advantage.

"I know of the SCE, but what is the insertion Alice you're talking about? Hayate-"

"Didn't tell you about it?" I finished for her. "Why would he? After all, with the Alice of Insertion you can put any Alice stones that you are compatible with into yourself or into another person if you so wish. Couldn't that make you too powerful to control? Someone who wields as many Alices as you could is not easily controlled after all and, well, you _are_ Gakuen Alice's newest weapon to wield. No one who works with the school would tell you something like that. Your potential is so massive that the ESP in already bragging about you to his enemies; _'Just wait - when I set my new pet on you all, you will regret ever opposing me'_ I think were his words last week."

I had used the Voice Imitation Alice to mimic the child principal perfectly. Even to me the switching from my soft female voice to the high, creepy voice of the Elementary school principal was slightly unnerving but it had the desired affect when my daughter went pale.

"What?" he voice was whispery and filled with disbelief.

"I don't lie."

"But-! Would that mean that Luna was also...?" she trailed off to stare at the ground.

_'Luna?'_ I wondered mentally.

"None of your business!" she spat at me and I just looked at her.

"Whatever."

"..."

"I have a proposition for you though. Care to hear what it is...?"

"Tell me."

I grinned.

"Well, daughter, I do happen to be one of the higher ranking members of the AAO and with that said you joining us would not be a problem. And don't give me that look, just hear me out. For one we will not lie to you about your abilities and I will train you to use your Alices to their full affect. Adding to that, you will live a relatively luxurious life if you work your way up but even before that with me as your mom you will already have a leg up on the whole deal and won't be staying in one of the 'rooms' that newbies stay in. And... "

I stared at her expectant face with a grin.

"You will have all of the freedom that I know you have been yearning for." Her eyes went wide. "I have been monitoring you and your thoughts for a while now and I know just what your point of view on being confined to that room, only going out with permission, is. No more false identities or confines to one place. Within reason, you are free to do whatever you wish."

Mikan mumbled something.

"What was that?"

"Within reason."

"Excuse me?"

"Your words were 'within reason' I can do whatever I want. What are these the reasons then? How do I know that this isn't all a lie anyway?"

"You don't," I told her honestly. "But if you really do want to get out of this place, you're just going to have to trust me."

Mikan looked away from me and her hazel eyes studied the trees around us.

"What if I say no?" she asked finally.

"Then that's a pity and a major loss on your part, but I won't force you to come with me," I lied smoothly about the last part. There was no way that my Mikan was going to stay in this place.

"I need some time to think about this," she told me as she turned and began walking away from me. "I don't trust you _mom_ and I'm going to think before doing something this crazy."

I scowled and took a deep breath. I knew that she wouldn't come immediately, but one could hope...

"Fine. But I need your answer by tomorrow night. The academy is catching onto my presence and I need to get going."

"Okay."

"I'll meet you here tomorrow at 9:00 exactly. Don't be late!" I told her before teleporting away.

I landed right at the edge of the forest and beside that academy walls and I couldn't stop the smile that lit up my face. She was going to come. I just knew she would.

Digging into my pocket I took out a certain Alice stone. It was time to become _T__he Voice_.

I was getting my daughter back.

* * *

**Mikan POV**

I frowned deeply and hugged the pillow I was holding even closer to my chest. I bit my lip before rolling off my bed and walking to the kitchen. I needed a tart.

Five minutes later I was eating the last of the sweet treats and I had to wonder if they would have fruit tarts at the AAO. Probably not.

"Mom..." I mumbled around my food.

The woman had defiantly looked like me, and while she had been pretty stiff around me and kind of... evil seeming... she had also given off an air of nervousness. Did she really want me to come with her because we were related? Or because of my Alices? Were they even real? Or was that I lie?

"Damn."

Too many question, not enough answers.

"What should I do...?"

_You should go to the AAO._

I flinched and jumped, dropping my food on the floor and the crust shattered and the fruit went rolling around on the carpet. I stared down sadly at the dessert which I knew was ruined and I hoped that I could go get some more soon. With Luna.

"V-voice?" I asked hesitantly.

_Hi._ It answered simply.

It was the first time in a long time that I had contact with it and I didn't want to start talking to it again.

"Why are you here? Go away!"

_Fine,_ it told me, for once being agreeable. _But before I go, think about this: who is offering you a better life where you actually get to do what you want, and who is putting you through hellish training, has tortured you, and keeps you under close watch at all times because they don't trust you yet expect you to do everything that they tell you to do? _

The answer was obvious.

And yet I still hesitated as I stared at the broken remains of the fruit tart on the floor.

**Blah. So... yeah! Well, the chapter is done and I want you guys to vote on what you think Mikan should do: Go with Yuka? Or stay?**

**Thanks for reading!**

**Review~!**


	20. General Consensus

Hello lovelies! So, as the general consensus for all of my stories seems to be: "rewrite it or whatever - just make sure to finish it!" that is exactly what I will be doing.

For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, a few weeks back I posted a note asking whether or not I should rewrite this and all of my other stories because I have lost motivation in the way it currently is and want to rework everything. Reworking includes: closing plot holes, fixing the crappiness that my stories currently are, longer chapters, better plot, and much much more. THIS note, is my response to everyone else's, well, responses.

To all of you who left me proper opinions: Thank you very much. To the rest of you who did things like say: "OMG, lyk, just finish it, k? Cuz I wuna read the story n if ur not motivated or whtevur then thats ur problem. So finish du story" You people are dumb and your opinion means nothing to me, especially if you can't even write the word "like" correctly.

To everyone who has stuck with me: I love you guys and starting now I will be rewriting all of my stories and you can expect the first chapter followed by weekly to biweekly updates for each story by the end of June at the very latest. I'm aiming for sometime in May, but, you know. Life. *shrugs*

The reason I am going to take so much time (is two months maximum a long time?) is because I want to rewrite most of what, if not all, I have written so far so that there aren't very long periods of time between updates and because that's just how I want to do it. The story, by the way, will be posted as a NEW STORY and the old one will remain as is, though incomplete. Names will more likely than not be similar to original, and if I am not on your Author Alert already, i would recommend putting me on there so that you know when the stories go up. Please do look out for it, because I think that it's going to be really great. Love you guys!

*You may review this chapter if you wish as I will be keeping this note up for any and all that wander by this story and want to know why it stops where it does.

~Ichigo Maaka


	21. Remake is up!

**For those of you who were wanting to know: the remake is now up. This is the same case as with the rest of my stories.**

**~Ichigo**

**:)**


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